


Testing the Waters

by TheOnlyWife



Category: Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Venom (Movie 2018)
Genre: Found Family, Gender Neutral Pronouns for Loki, Irondad, Other, Parent Tony Stark, Precious Peter Parker, Protective Eddie Brock, Protective May Parker (Spider-Man), Protective Tony Stark, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Trans Peter Parker, Worried May Parker (Spider-Man)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-12
Updated: 2021-01-11
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:20:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 32,127
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25855780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheOnlyWife/pseuds/TheOnlyWife
Summary: Eddie has been out all night crime fighting. But everything stops when they hear what sounds like a kid in trouble.Alternatively, Peter runs into trouble the second he tries to suit up in an abandoned alley. He's powerless until a terrifying monster shows up to 'help'.[On Hiatus Until Further Notice]
Relationships: Eddie Brock & Peter Parker, Eddie Brock & Venom Symbiote, Eddie Brock/Venom Symbiote, Peter Parker & Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Venom Symbiote
Comments: 289
Kudos: 972





	1. Unfortunate Introductions

Part of Eddie wished he would have just gone home after the first crime. He had a long day of dealing with rude people everywhere and wanted nothing more than to go home and eat their weight in tater tots.

**Hungry**

Of course, it wasn’t just Eddie’s hunger they had to sate. Eddie has been out for hours, searching for some truly horrendous criminal to eat. The last criminal they had stopped was just some stupid teenager trying to rob a poor woman walking home from a late shift at whatever full-time job she had. Eddie would feel bad about doing more than just scaring him off.

The second was only an hour later. A group of young adult women, maybe in their early 20’s, coming out of a nearby club, piss drunk. A burly man followed them out, brandishing a large pocket knife. Eddie wasn’t sure if something was going to happen, but he wasn’t going to risk it.

The ladies were so drunk they hadn’t heard his muffled scream as Venom threw the man into an alleyway. The man, surprisingly unafraid of Venom, charged them almost immediately. The hand that had the knife was bitten off before it got even remotely close to their chest.

Tasty, but not even biting his screaming head off helped their hunger. They stuck around for a while longer, to both of their dismays. 

Eddie heard a far away yelp of pain. Another late-night alleyway robbery, if he had to guess. He was looking for a meal, but stopping criminals got old. He sighed tiredly, but got in position to run.

He leapt across a few rooftops, sticking close to where he heard the noise, while keeping a close eye out for any trouble. He jumped to the highest one he could find nearby and stood on the ledge, pausing to focus on hearing the same sound again.

He waited for quite a long time before he heard a similar grunt of pain from an alleyway just a few buildings to his right. He ran across a few roofs, and landed on the shortest one thus far, where he last heard noise.

He took a glance over the ledge and saw a young, brown-haired boy, back against the wall, clutching a small gray backpack tightly in his arms. Directly in front of him were three men in similar looking leather jackets, two of them brandishing blades. The third was closest to the boy, not holding anything, but still had the kid reeling back from the punch.

The kid looked a bit roughed up: dirt embedded in his knees, footprints on his shirt, and some small bruises beginning to form on his face. Seems like this had been going on for a while, going by how purple the bruises were.

He had a hunch the men, although they were the people who started this, weren’t really looking for a fight to begin with. Robbers never usually were. They wanted nothing more than to take the goods unopposed and run before they could get caught. 

Seemed like this one just didn’t go as planned. 

If the kid was smart, he’d let them take the bag and whatever he had in it. They would take it and run off to wherever they were gonna go and Eddie would follow them. He’d return it and whatever they took from it, no harm done. To the kid anyway.

“C’mon, just hand the bag over and we might let you go.” the front most man said, threateningly leaning in a bit closer to the boy.

“No way!” he yelled, earning him another punch to the gut. When he got the wind knocked out of him he hunched over slightly, but the bag still in his arms took most of the blow. He took in a deep, shaky breath to combat the pain.

“ _I wasn’t asking_.” the man sneered, slowly pulling back his clenched fist down to his side. “And I won’t say it again. Hand it over before I get serious.”

The man reached his hand into his jacket pocket and brought out a switchblade bigger than his friends’, flicking it open with a sharp snap. The kid flinched, but didn’t yield. “No.” he said firmly, clinging to the bag even tighter.

**He’s going to get hurt**

It was then Eddie decided they needed to help. They jumped up and forward, landing themselves directly behind the two men. They quickly took them out, throwing them against the wall and knocking them out instantly. 

They turned to face the man, who had dropped his knife and had his back to the kid. Eddie could see the sweat forming on his forehead. Venom stuck their tongue out to taste the air. They smelled the scent of cigarette ashes and whiskey on his jacket. More importantly, though, they tasted the fear radiating off of him. 

**Delicious.**

They let out a guttural growl and opened their maw to reveal the long, pointed tongue in their mouth. Acidic spit dripped from their shark-like teeth. The man choked out a whimper, knees threatening to buckle underneath him.

“ **You should run. While you still have legs**.”

The man blinked back tears, quickly ran past them, and sprinted down the long alley as fast as his shaking legs could take him. He let out a garbled mess of screams for help as he ran.

“ **Close your eyes**.” Venom said, looking the kid in his eyes. He was shaking a bit, but did so. He turned his head down at the ground for good measure.

Once they were sure he wouldn’t see it, they extended a tendril towards the man, straight through his heart. It split off on the end and latched onto the other side of his chest, pulling him back. 

When his body was close enough, they bite down hard on his neck, crunching on his skull once it was inside their mouth. The bone part was disgusting and uncomfortable to eat, but the soft brain was the most delicious part. 

_Eat all of him_ Eddie inputted when Venom was about to drop the body.

They grabbed the man by the waist, lifting his torso up and towards their mouth. The blood from what was left of his neck dripping onto their tongue, giving off a metallic taste, with a thick scent to match, encouraged them.

They dislodged their jaw to fit the whole of the body in one swift bite. They could feel the crunch of his bones on their teeth while trying to shoving it all quickly down their throat. Once down, the rest of him was swiftly shattered, squished, and dissolved in their thick stomach acid.

**Delicious**

“ **You can look**.” When they glanced back at the kid, clothes splashed slightly with red blood from when they had bit down, they saw he had his eyes screwed shut tightly. Slowly, very slowly, they saw him open his eyes. 

He locked eyes with Venom, eyes dilating as wide as saucers. It reminded Eddie of the tiny calico Anne used to have when they were dating. The kid would be cute, if it weren’t for the implication that he was afraid of them.

“ **Go home**.” they told him when he was stuck frozen in place by his own uncooperative muscles.

Whatever trance or panic the kid was in was overridden as he ran past Venom. He held onto his bag by the top strap, unzipping the side and checking that whatever he was almost killed for was still there. He sighed when he saw everything safe and sound.

Venom stuck their tongue out to taste the air. He smelled like sweets and hot metal. Not chocolate, but the overly sweet candy from a corner store. Like lemon gumdrops and watermelon taffy. 

The hot metal was a strange smell, but it was very distinct. Like a soldering iron against steel. Eddie remembers the smell from workshop classes in high school.

So the kid liked candy and had a side hobby. A sweet tooth and metalworking was nothing special.

Nothing to think too hard about in their mind. The man they ate reeked of cheap whiskey and sex. Tasted like it too, which Eddie would like to ignore to the best of his ability for the rest of the night.

They dug their claws into the nearby brick wall, scaling up the building like a spider. They swung their legs up and over the ledge, landing on the empty rooftop.

_Hungry?_

**No.**

Eddie felt only relief. He really didn’t want to stay out any longer tonight. He was in the stage of tiredness where every outward breath feels like a sigh.

They ran home as fast as they could, de-venoming on the fire escape once they spotted the familiar apartment building. They had to use a bit of Venom strength to force the window open, but they _did_ get it open.

Eddie couldn’t remember how he got where he is or when he got a chocolate bar from their stash, but it had all happened. It was like a memory blank to him. Never harmful, which he was thankful for, but it was weird to be standing one second and in pj’s on the couch the next, like he had just experienced.

Eddie yawned as he flipped through channel after channel, looking for the food network. Once he heard the tell-tale voice of Gordon Ramsey yelling at another incompetent chef, he stopped.

Lazily he watched the disastrous cooking of new chefs who thought they were the best. His mind wandered back to the things he had done that night. He could have said something different. He should have acted faster. And the looming feeling that something was wrong with the kid he saved.

‘Kid’ was not technically accurate, since he looked around 16, but it felt right. Either way, something felt off about him. Nothing he could place, just a gut feeling. Like he was someone important. Or saving him was something that would come back to haunt the both of them.

**Go to sleep, Eddie.**

He was brought out of his thoughts. “Yeah yeah, you’re just saying that so you can steal some chocolate when I can’t stop you.” 

**We need rest**

“I’m working on it.” Eddie argued with a playful tone. “Don’t rush me.”

Eddie leans back into the couch cushion, resting his head on the pillowly surface. Very soft for being from a rummage sale when he was down on his luck.

He watched as Vee pooled a small part of himself on Eddie’s lap. Yet again Eddie was reminded of Anne’s cat. The cat liked him sometimes. Sometimes being when Eddie gave her treats. She warmed up to him eventually. Enough to rest in his lap sometimes. 

Eddie wished he’d gotten a picture of her when she took an afternoon nap on him while he watched T.V. She was the cutest thing, that tiny calico cat with a firey temper.

**Stop rambling and sleep.**

This time Eddie obliged, closing his eyes and beginning to doze off. He rested a hand on the semi-solid form of V resting in his lap. The shouting from the T.V got quieter, but he hardly noticed. 

He fell asleep before he could realize that the gut feeling about the kid _would_ come back to haunt him.


	2. Chance Encounters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eddie is walking around town when he is hit in the face with the same smell that came from the kid they saved. But something is bothering Eddie about him. More than it should.

Waking up after a long night of constant running and fighting hurt like hell. His legs shifted, even just a little, trying to combat the fuzzy feeling of falling asleep, and pain shot up his calves. But the pounding headache that hadn’t stopped from the moment he woke up was the worst out of the bunch.

He let out an involuntary groan from the continuous, yet currently dulling down, pain. He opened his eyes cautiously, blinking harshly at the light coming in from the curtains he forgot to make sure covered the window before he went to sleep last night. 

He tried to lift his hand, but found it comfortably settled near his stomach. Not on his stomach, though. Instead it was resting on top of the pool of ink laying there in a blanket’s stead. 

“Good morning, darling…” he mumbled, lifting his other, free hand to cover his eyes. 

**Did you sleep well, Eddie?**

“Yeah, I think so.” he said, resting his entire forearm on top of his eyes instead of just his hand. Maybe the sun would go away if he pretended it didn’t exist for just five minutes.

Mornings were always slow for the two of them. Eddie hated getting up earlier than 10:00 with a passion. Vee never slept, so he didn’t notice the difference between angrily getting up at 7:00, already late for a meeting, and lazily getting up at noon (or whenever Eddie wanted to wake up).

Vee didn’t even bother to make a head to talk to Eddie like he usually would. Sentient sludge in his lap and another voice in his head was just fine in his book.

A lack in sight made Eddie pay attention to sounds more, which is why he noticed how quiet the T.V was. He remembers it being rather loud last night and he was sure he didn’t wake up to turn it down.

**We turned it down for Eddie.**

Ah, of course it wasn’t just him he had to think about. 

“Why’d you do that?” he asked, though he was sure he already knew the answer. It was the same thing he’d done for Anne so often.

**The noise would wake you otherwise.**

It was always the little things that reminded Eddie just how in love they were with each other. Vee would do things like that for him, even if it was the tiniest of things. Leaving more tater tots for him on a bad day. Holding back feeding because he was feeling sick that night.

Little, sweet things that Eddie appreciated more than any grand gesture of love.

He lifted his arm off of his face to look at the T.V, which was almost silent at this point. The bottom of the screen was playing choppy, sometimes grammatically incorrect subtitles of a cooking show he didn’t recognize. Still, they, even when imperfect, were better than none at all.

“You turned on subtitles?” he asked, somewhat confused.

**It is still entertaining to watch.**

Eddie didn’t know Vee knew how to turn on subtitles. He wasn’t sure even he knew how to do that, to his disappointment. He liked watching shows with them turned on whenever he could. It helped him process what people were saying better.

“M’k…” he mumbled. He stared blankly at the ceiling for no particular reason other than procrastination until Vee gave him a gentle nudge from his position in Eddie’s lap. He sighed, unwanting to move from that spot for the rest of his life, but obliged anyway.

He slid one leg down, giving Vee the opportunity to flow back into him as he sat up. Vee, instead, crawled onto his hand, up his arm, and formed something akin to a scarf around his neck.

Once he finished sitting up, he tipped his head down and gave Vee a gentle kiss. Physical affections were Vee’s style of love, so Eddie catered to that as often as he could. It just helped that he enjoyed it, too.

“Let’s go get some lunch, bud.” Vee rippled across the back of his neck in agreement.

* * *

Sunday afternoons were always nice to Eddie. He could ignore the hunger he constantly felt by going out on a nice day, getting lunch, and ignoring work for the second time that day.

So, as he walked down the busy sidewalk, he felt right at home. All people ignoring their responsibilities in favor of doing something, _anything_ else were just like him.

Of course the smell was the biggest downside. They had a better sense of smell, especially while Venom. Even without it, though, they could smell a lot more than Eddie ever thought _could_ be a scent.

Smoke from thick cigars was one of the worst. It always got stuck in their nose. Same with rotting food. Some people left food out in their house to rot, even on accident, and the smell clung to their clothes.

Having a super-sensitive sense like that sucked a lot, especially in the city. But it also helped them recognize familiar scents.

They were walking down the street like usual, debating where to eat, when they sniffed the air and were greeted by the same thing they encountered last night: Hot metal and candy.

They immediately turned back around, nearly running into someone behind them. They threw an apology in the guy’s direction, but locked onto the person that had that faint smell. There, passing through the crowd, was a brown-haired teenager in a light blue undershirt, gray sweater, and dark blue jeans, walking with two other teens who looked his age.

Eddie was sure of it: it was the kid they saved last night. He noticed the bruised wrist he was covering with the sweater. It was hot out today, no reason for him to be wearing one _other_ than to be covering it up. Eddie thought it was where the men had grabbed at him, trying to steal his bag. 

In fact, he was wearing the same bag right at that second. Eddie was gaining distance between him and the group before he realized. He had to slow himself down, but kept close by in case he lost them in the crowd.

He gave the two friends a once-over: a pretty, curly haired girl in a white band t-shirt and a bigger boy in a light green and blue plaid shirt with a zip-up hoodie on top of it.

And the only one with a backpack was the kid he saved. It was Sunday, no reason to have a school backpack unless you were studying with said friends. Considering neither of them had one, Eddie assumed that was not the case.

Before Eddie realized, the three of them stopped in front of a nearby cafe. His friends sat down outside under a big, white parasol, while he went inside to order for the three of them. Eddie had to follow, if only to satisfy his need for more information.

It was as good a place to eat as anywhere else Vee would have suggested. Eddie found himself waiting in line just behind the mystery boy as he ordered. The kid ordered three coffee’s - one peppermint latte (which Eddie didn’t know they served in spring), a grande with way too many pumps of espresso for one teenager to have, and a black coffee.

Eddie himself ordered some of their favorite sweets and a small drink, but wasn’t really focused on his food anyway. He knew that they would have to call out the person’s name in order to give them their order. All Eddie needed was a name.

Then, like an angel descending from above, the barista called out “Peter!”. The boy immediately rushed up and took all three drinks, keeping one tucked against his chest with the other two in his hands.

He set them down on the small table near the door and dropped some sugar cubes in one of them (Eddie assumed it was the plain, black coffee). It didn’t matter who’s cup was who’s. They had a name for the kid.

Peter. _Peter_. That was all they needed.

“Eddie!” the same lady called out, startling him out of his thoughts. He, like the kid, rushed up and took his drink, along with his snacks. He didn’t bother sitting down either inside or out. He just took his food and went home.

He ate most of them along the way, but ditched the coffee in a bin halfway through the cup. He would spare his body the extra caffeine.

He went through a battle plan in his head: He had a name, appearance, and location. Plenty enough information to look up, even without using his more illegal investigative reporter skills.

As he fit the key to his apartment into the lock he realized just how weird it was to be obsessing over some teen he barely knew. 

No, he reasoned after shaking his stupor, he was only going to be looking at public things. Facebook, Twitter, that kind of thing. And he certainly wasn’t going to do anything with the information.

He shook off his shoes at the door quickly, kneeling down and grabbing the laptop he kept hidden under the couch for when he left. Always paid to be careful when going out. 

He plopped down on the couch and got to work. It turned out that he was right; It was incredibly easy to find this kid’s social media. Mostly because there was so much of it. The most recent picture on his Instagram was actually of him and his friends at the same cafe, smiling and leaning in close to each other.

But Eddie didn’t just look at one of his posts, he looked at many, across several platforms. A lot of them were tagged with locations, which was risky business in Eddie’s book. He really should be more careful about that.

Eddie took a glance at the timestamp of Peter’s newest Twitter post. Yesterday at 3:57 pm. He recognized the ice cream shop that he, and his two friends, were in. It was right next to Eddie’s favorite candy store, named “Sweets and Treats!”, with the exclamation point being the biggest part of the hand painted sign.

It was his favorite because they didn’t ask questions when he came to the counter with way too much chocolate for one man to eat.

But that wasn’t the reason he recognized it. He _did_ think it was familiar, but not just because he’d been around the shop before.

He wracked his brain trying to remember where he’d seen it before. It gave him a small headache just thinking about it so hard. 

Then it clicked.

He brought up the most recent tweet on the official Spiderman account. A post captioned “Just a little spider swinging round and round!” with an attached picture of him, in costume, legs dangling off the edge of a building.

It was in a very familiar part of town. Eddie leaned forward, as if that would help the image quality of a twitter post. He squinted to take a closer look into the picture, noticing the building’s rooftops looking familiar. He’d been running around the area before, he knew what the tops looked like.

The roofscape to his right, with a squeaky back door and a small flower garden on top, was just across the street from Sweets and Treats.

He looked at the timestamp from Spiderman’s official post. 4:02 pm. It was coincidence, most likely, that it almost matched up with Peter’s. 

But then Eddie went deeper. 

He scoured Twitter posts, mini livestreams on YouTube, and as much else as he could find without feeling like a creep. He spent hours and the one thing he learned was that it all seemed to add up. The timestamps, settings, and weather matched almost perfectly every time.

The things that he looked into were publically shared by both personalities, of course. He was an investigator at heart, but this was a _child_ who deserved respect and privacy.

A picture from Spiderman just happened to match up with Peter’s excursions with his two friends (who were apparently named ‘MJ’ and ‘Ned’) too many times to be coincidence.

“What’re we gonna do?” he said, mostly to himself, leaning back into the couch. It made a squeaking sound as he did, which only reminded him of just how broke they were.

**Eat him?**

Eddie sat up, straightening his shoulders. He sent a confused, but somewhat angry glare Vee’s way. “What? No.”

**Only joking.**

“You better be. That kid is like sixteen.” he shook his head disapprovingly and sighed. “And apparently a superhero. What to do indeed.”

He looked down at his laptop, still playing a gif of Spiderman swinging around. Instead of the breathtaking view of the top of the city, Eddie focused on the kid. His legs were muscular, but still skinny. Too thin for a regular teenager, let alone a super powered one.

The chest part of the suit, just barely in view of the camera, clung to his skin. It exposed his ribcage, which, now that Eddie looked closer, had a few ribs sticking out.

If Stark wasn’t feeding this kid right, then Eddie would kick Tony’s ass and feed the boy himself.

“Ok…” he thought out loud. “So the only thing we’ve learned from the past two hours it that this kid is underage and underfed.”

**And working with Ironboy**

“That too.” he agreed begrudgingly. “If Tony doesn’t know by now that the hero he’s housing is only sixteen, then I don’t know who to trust.”

**What does that mean?**

“The guy’s got millions of dollars and a super smart A.I. He _has_ to know by now.” Eddie shifted the computer in his lap, gently shoving the overheating parts away from his right leg. “We figured it out and all we have is this dingy, old laptop.” 

**What now, Eddie?**

The gears in Eddie’s head started to turn as he wracked his brain for an answer. He set aside the laptop next to him, exposing his thighs to the cool air.

“You know how there were a lot of Spiderman protesters on the internet?” he asked, snapping his fingers. “We could do something about that.”

**Eat them?**

“We don’t need to eat everyone we don’t like.”

**It would be fun. And tasty.**

“That’s not the point.” he argued back. “The point _is_ that he could use some good publicity.”

He looked back at the laptop, still playing the gif of him swinging around. Every time he looked he noticed something he didn’t like. He was too skinny for his age, he was too high up - what if he fell? - and the suit was too thin.

“We’re a reporter, Vee. Giving publicity is our job. It’s just a choice of giving good or bad news.” he sighed. “Today we’re choosing good.”

He remembered the scared look Peter gave them when they jumped in to save him. Even when he was beat up and bruised, he looked more terrified of Venom than the men who attacked him.

This is the least they can do for Peter. He’s just a teenager, wrapped up in something he probably didn’t choose in the first place. 

Eddie only hoped that they didn’t scare him off already.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All comments are appreciated! They make me really happy :)


	3. Odd Interviews

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony reads the article Eddie puts out about Spiderman. He's _very_ pleased. Enough to invite Eddie over.

“Finally someone gets it right.” Tony said, taking a sip of his third coffee cup for that morning.

“Got what right?” Steve, who’d just woken up from a mid-afternoon nap not too long ago, said. He’d taken it to get away from the trouble brewing downstairs in Bruce’s lab. That intern Tony hired was much too smart for his own good.

Tony, instead of saying anything, moves his holographic computer screen closer to Steve. He gestures for the man to read it, like he couldn’t very well do it himself.

“Another news report on Spiderman?” he asks, raising an eyebrow. “I thought you were done reading them after the last one called him an ‘overconfident, immature imbecile’.”

“That was before I read _this_ one.” He dismisses the hologram that he shoved Steve’s way with a wave, letting it fade into thin air.

“What’s special about this one?”

“Whoever wrote this has their head on straight.” he crossed his arms, as if that explained everything.

“You’re gonna have to be more specific, Tony.” He shook his head and sighed. God it was like pulling teeth to get him to get to the point.

“I know exactly how Spiderman’s most recent ‘scandal’ went down.” Tony used air quotes heavily on scandal. “Whoever wrote this got almost everything perfect. Not like that garbage reporter who says whatever the hell he wants.”

It wasn’t like Steve kept up with the news (the future was already so weird), but he could assume it was nothing too big if he hadn’t heard about it.

“And that’s a good thing?” Steve asked. He wasn’t sure where Tony was taking this, but he wished he had taken his nap elsewhere if he was going to begin another obsession.

“It is indeed.” Tony took another sip. He finished it off, technically, but a sip was a sip. “I need to meet this Eddie Brock soon. Very soon.”

* * *

“How _did_ Stark get my contact info anyway?” Eddie asks, though he’s not sure he wants to know the answer.

“It’s best not to question that at this point.” Mrs. Potts says. She turns a corner, leading him farther into the tower than Eddie had ever seen. 

**Feels weird in here, Eddie**

He had to agree. The air felt metallic, leaking with a strange electricity current running throughout. It made the hairs on his arms stand up, which was a bit more than an uncomfortable feeling. Not painful, but weird.

It had been nothing short of a winding maze to Eddie. It was a wonder she managed to find her way around. Some places were labeled in conveniently bold letters. 

‘Training room’

‘Med bay’

‘Tony’s Lab. Keep out unless you bring coffee’

Mrs. Potts, who said she’d rather be called ‘Pepper’ early on, led them into the weirdly named lab. Eddie could only imagine the amount of patience she had to deal with Stark, considering he was currently upside down on his couch watching a cartoon Eddie didn’t recognize.

“Your guest is here.” She walked over to the couch and leaned down near his head, which was almost touching the floor. He seemed to be ignoring her, looking straight ahead at the holographic T.V instead.

“Behave and maybe…” she lowered her voice and whispered something in Tony’s ear. He immediately fell off the couch, but rushed to right himself. He brushed himself off quickly, throwing on a professional smile. Eddie didn’t want to know what she said.

“Mr. Brock. Welcome.” Tony shoved a hand in their direction, which Eddie took. “Can I call you Eddie?”

The man didn’t wait for his answer. “Good. Then you can call me Tony. Welcome to my humble abode.” he gestured to his expansive lab, full of technology Eddie didn’t recognize or understand. 

It would have been more impressive if all of it was in order, though. Instead there were scattered wires, tools, and blueprints all over the lab. Some of it was even on the floor.

“It’s….nice.” Eddie said, taking in the mess of a room. He imagined the man having a more organized look. 

**Weird old man.**

_He’s not that old, Vee. Don’t be mean._

**Just weird, then**

_No one tell his girlfriend over there._ Eddie chuckled under his breath.

Eddie finally noticed the strange looks Pepper and Tony were giving him. He hadn’t realized that it would be odd to stare off into the distance while having a conversation with the parasite in his body.

**Not a parasite, pussy.**

_Bite me._

“You good?” Tony asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Peachy. Can we sit down?” he looked around for a suitable place to have his interview, but only saw the same couch. The hologram was still playing the cartoon. He caught part of a conversation about...ghosts before Tony shut it off.

“Over here is fine.” He said, walking over to the couch. The hologram disappeared into the air, leaving behind a trail of particles as it faded at a wave of Tony’s hand.

Eddie hesitantly followed Tony over. He felt weird having an interview sitting on the same seat as the other person, but he could do it if needed. Luckily, he didn’t have to.

There was a smaller chair next to the couch that was being blocked from his view. He took a seat on the gray seat while Tony sat back down on the couch. Pepper took the spot next to him. Eddie thought she would have left by now. Interviews were normally a one-on-one thing.

“Did...you need something from him before we start?” he asked, confused.

She let out the most tired sigh Eddie had ever heard. “I’m playing mediator until he learns how to behave around others.”

“It’s not my fault everyone has such interesting backstories!” he defended. “Speaking of which…”

**We have a bad feeling, Eddie**

“What _really_ happened with Carlton Drake? I know he was doing some shady stuff, but you were front and center. In the line of fire, too, going by videos of you being shot at by government officials. How did you escape, anyway?”

“Tony. Behave.” Pepper scolded, sending him a glare. 

“And what happened to the alien you were housing?” A chill ran down Eddie’s spine. Vee was right - he’s getting a bad feeling about this. He ignored the question he wanted to ask: ‘How do you know about him?’

“Aren’t I supposed to be interviewing you?” he asked slowly. He looked around the room, taking in the exits. Just the door in which he came in. But there were windows off to the side of the room. It was a 40 story building, but Vee would catch them. There wasn’t a single doubt about it in his mind.

**We will keep Eddie safe. Always.**

Eddie heard the familiar sound of the door opening. He turned to look at the same time the two of them did.

“Mr. Stark have you seen-?” the teenage boy who walked in said. He froze upon seeing Eddie. “Oh! I didn’t realize you had company! Sorry!”

The thing was, Eddie knew the kid. ‘Knew’ being he may have done some looking into him online (for no other reason than curiosity). And the fact that he saved the guy’s life.

“Come back later, kid.” Tony told him in a soft voice that would be more fitting for a mother talking to her child. “Promise I’ll be done soon.”

It was just dumb luck and intuition that led him to figuring out his hero identity. But...now that he thought about it… _did_ Tony know?

He doubted the businessman would be so friendly to just an intern.

“Okay!” the kid said. But Eddie didn’t miss the sidelong glance as he left. He lingered around the doorway for a bit too long before leaving.

Something was up between those two.

**Bad?**

Not bad, but weird. Strange, at the very least.

He thought that it would be odd for Stark to not know Peter was Spiderman, but it could just be that he decided against looking into the kid’s business in the first place. He couldn’t _always_ be a jerk who doesn’t mind his own business. 

But then again he was Tony Stark. 

Indecisive, Eddie decides to test the waters.

“Isn’t he a bit young to be here?”

Tony doesn’t take his eyes off the door for a few seconds. Checking to see if the kid was gone, going by the fact that he hadn’t closed the door when he left. Leaving it open was something Eddie was grateful for. A better escape route than a closed one.

“He...” Tony settles on slowly, looking back to Eddie. “is doing a lot for us.”

“Oh I know.” Eddie plays around with the words in his head, feeling for the right one’s. “He’s doing a lot more than anyone realizes.”

He instantly gets a reaction. Tony locks eyes with him, gaze hardening into the tough businessman look he always kept for times when he needed to be taken seriously. As if Eddie ever would take him seriously.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Tony demands, narrowing his eyes. He looks like he’s about to add something - maybe a threat or two on his life - but Eddie doesn’t want to give him the chance.

“It _means_ he should be more careful.” he leans forward, keeping eye contact the whole time. He could play along with the ‘discussion’, but he’d do it by his own rules.

But then Eddie heard a tiny gasp coming from the seemingly empty doorway. Tony noticed it too, going by the fact that he stopped talking to - interrogating, really - Eddie.

“Kid?” Tony said, standing up slowly. He turned his back to Eddie to face Peter directly. “I thought you left.”

Peter took one step into the doorway, keeping his right arm planted firmly on the frame. His eyes were as wide as saucers and he looked like he was about to book it down the hall if Eddie said the wrong thing.

“Mr. Brock? What do you mean by that?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think! All comments are welcome. Even just a ♥️ as an extra kudo :)


	4. Questionable Judgement

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If Tony Stark thought he was a sly man by moving their interview to an interrogation room, he had another thing coming.

If Tony Stark thought he was a sly man by moving their interview to an interrogation room, he had another thing coming. Oh, sure, it looked nice. Had a pleasing cream coloring to the walls, along with a few small paintings. The lighting was a soft white and the chairs the two of them were sitting in had armrests and small cushions on the bottoms and backs.

And all of it was for show.

The paintings, the two that there were, were obviously screwed into the walls, impossible to remove. The chairs were bolted to the ground as well, which was the first thing Eddie noticed. It was V, however, who noticed that the softly lit lamps had cameras hoisted up onto the ceiling just next to them. Perfectly in position to not be getting hit by the lamp light, while also being virtually invisible.

Clever.

Though it was hard to be subtle about the giant one-way mirror on the left wall, nearest to the door. Speaking of which, Peter had refused to leave the door ever since the two of them sat down. He seemed skittish around Eddie, sometimes even avoiding eye contact. Eddie was really wondering if they’d already scared him off.

“Now.” Tony interrupted his thoughts. He, who had the seat opposite to him, had his hands brought up into the steeple position. “What exactly did you mean by ‘he should be more careful”?”

Eddie really wanted to laugh at how formal he was being. Or at least trying to be. Or maybe this was his way of trying to be intimidating. All it was accomplishing was convincing him that Black Widow was the one always doing interrogations.

**Maybe that would be more interesting**

_At least she wouldn’t look so much like an angry basketball coach._ Eddie agreed.

“We meant exactly what we said.” Eddie began boldly. “He _should_ be more careful. Especially about what he posts online. A certain investigative reporter might discover a few things here and there.”

Eddie was pretty sure by now that Tony knew about the kid being Spiderman, but he was even more certain when he saw the confused and somewhat angry look he shot Peter’s way. They had a tiny staring contest, like they were trying to have a conversation without speaking, but Tony gave up.

“And, again, what _exactly_ does that mean?” Tony brought his attention back to Eddie, looking just a bit more angry, if that was possible.

And maybe it was a stupid mistake on his part, but Eddie wanted to have just a bit of fun here. This was only going to go one of two ways, and he was choosing the fun one.

“Go to any cafes lately, Peter?” he tilts his head in the kid’s direction. “Hang out with a couple friends? Maybe order a grande with a lot of espresso?”

Peter looked a bit more scared than they would have liked, but at least it was a warning of what was about to happen. Or, more importantly, what they were going to reveal. All in due time, though, because Tony looked _furious_.

“Been stalking him, have you?” Stark ground out. His eyebrows looked permanently stuck in a downward slope and his lips were pressed together thinly. 

Eddie really wanted to smile that very moment. He recognized that look. Or, more accurately, that feeling. Because it was the same look he got whenever Vee was being protective of him.

Venom had gotten hurt a few times. And they had to intimidate people a few times. But when Eddie himself got hurt, Vee got _angry_. That rage? That fire burning only for someone else? Eddie knew exactly how it felt.

“Aww ‘stalking’ is such a harsh word.” he smiled cheekily. “It wasn’t like it was hard.”

Tony growled lowly, like if Eddie said one more wrong thing, he was going to throw down. Eddie decided to let the guy cool off.

“Peter, seriously, you shouldn’t tag your location on anything.” He directed his attention to the poor, somewhat scared kid lingering around the doorway. “And choose better places to hide when changing.”

“Changing?” he whispers, lowering his gaze to the floor for a second. Then he whips his head back up and gives Eddie the most horrified look. Bingo. That was exactly what they needed to see.

Tony got the idea too, going by his carefully chosen next words. “How much do you know?”

Eddie couldn’t help but smile. Here he goes again with the overprotectiveness. It was a less angry look he was being given, though. More like a ‘We need to do damage control’ look. Eddie wasn’t even sure there was a look for that until now.

Still, it wasn’t a look Eddie was happy with. “We know enough,” he said, still smiling. He knew he had the upper hand. “But you don’t need to know how much.”

Tony brought back the glare Eddie had gotten oh so familiar with. “This isn’t a joke, Brock.”

 **Sounds funny to us, strange man** Vee joked in their head. He certainly had the right idea.

“We know, Stark,” said Eddie, really digging for the right reactions if he was being honest. He’d know it when he’d see it. He leaned back in his chair, arms on the back of his head. “It’s a game and we’re winning.”

Tony, like a mother dog who’d had enough, let out an involuntary growl. “This ends _now_.”

Peter, who had been lingering around the door for most of their conversation, slowly made his way over. He reached out a hand towards Tony, but pulled it back before actually touching him. He shook his head a few times, then placed his hand gently on Tony’s shoulder.

“Mr. Stark? Can I ummm…tag in?” He asked, curling his other hand into itself in small, subtle motions. Eddie saw the two of them lock eyes, Peter looking more like he was pleading than asking. 

Eddie knew it was in Tony’s best interest to switch out parties. He certainly wasn’t getting anywhere with them. The question was if he’d let it happen.

Tony, eventually, sighed and stood up.

“You get two minutes.” he said after a long pause, and with a finality that even Eddie could feel the weight of. Peter just smiled and took the seat in front of them.

“Ok...” Peter whispered to himself, before taking a deep, somewhat shaky breath. “Where to begin…?”

Eddie could have led the conversation, he supposed, but maybe this was better. For the kid, anyway. It seemed like standing up to Stark, even when he was asking for something small like this, was difficult. And he was still a bit scared of Eddie in the first place. So, yes, this was for the best.

While Peter collected his thoughts (and tried to stop shaking), Eddie watched Tony walk out the door. He hung around the half-opened door for a second and sent a glare at Eddie, before closing it behind him. Eddie followed his eyes across the wall to the one way window Tony was inevitably standing behind.

Even if he couldn’t see the man, this was an interrogation room, no matter how nice it looked. There was surely some kind of microphone system in here to go with the cameras. And he knew Stark was watching for certain, especially since his little passion project was in the room with Eddie Brock, the suspicious man with a strange background who knew more than he should.

“Mr. Brock, how did you….how did you know about my...side hobby?” Peter says, looking a lot more calm than before. At least, on the outside.

“Kid, you practically give it away with how much you post on social media.” Eddie laughs gently. “Like we said, you have to be more careful. And we meant what we said about tagging locations. Don’t do that.”

“But that can’t _just_ be it.” Peter gestures to himself. “I’m not that obvious, am I?”

 **Yes**.

“Wellll, you’re not exactly subtle.” said Eddie, rubbing the back of his neck. “But no, that’s not just it.”

“Then...what?” Peter responds, looking more helpless than one should look while interrogating someone. Eddie had to remember that: they were the ones being questioned.

“Remember what we said about changing?” Peter nodded a few times. “We saw you a few days ago trying to change.”

Peter gasped. “Oh no. Did you see me and that’s how you found out?”

Eddie shook his head. “Just watch.”

Eddie held out his arm, letting Vee’s living ink slowly slither out of his skin, trail down his arm, and cover his hand. Peter watched, intrigued, but only seemed to be getting more confused. And when he stopped, Peter looked back up at him, shaking his head gently. “I don’t…”

He still wasn’t understanding so they said “ **Go home.** ” in Venom’s deep, gravely voice.

They saw the last piece click together on Peter’s face. A small “Oh.” was his only word as it all sank it.

“Remember that monster that saved you a few days ago?” He tried to jog the kid’s memory, even if he had the idea already. He wanted there to be no confusion anymore.

**We are not a monster, Eddie**

_How else do you describe Venom to a teenager?_

**...Fine. But we are still not a monster**

Peter suddenly stood up, shaking the whole table as he went. “Y-You’re the monster?!” he said, loudly and somewhat breathlessly, like he couldn’t believe them.

Just as suddenly, the door opens, Tony bursting in. He wasn’t angry as far as they could tell, but he was far from pleased. Ready to defend Peter, going by the way he put himself in between him and Eddie.

“I don’t know what’s going on, but if you plan to hurt Peter...” Tony extended his arms farther, like that would keep Venom at bay. “You’re gonna have to go through me.”

Peter, with a somewhat squeaky voice, reached up and tapped Tony on the shoulder. “Mr. Stark wait!” When Tony refused to look away from Eddie he tried again. “You don’t understand! He _saved_ me! I was being mugged and he saved me.”

Tony whipped his head around to face the kid. “You were _what_?! You were mugged?”

Peter shyly nodded. “A few days ago. That’s why May called you.”

“And that’s why you were covered in blood?” Tony really was raising a ruckus at this point. “You said it was a bad guy’s!”

“It was!” Peter defended. “Just not from someone I beat up.”

“Kid, why didn’t you call me?” Tony was practically fawning over him at this point, in a much more toned down voice. “You know I gave you that A.I for a reason.”

“I was just about to change when the bad guys showed up.” Peter explained, matching Tony’s volume. Eddie was grateful they were being quieter now. “I couldn’t fight back without dropping the bag with my suit in it. They would have taken it and run.”

“Peter…” Tony said softly, pulling him into a hug. Peter returned it, practically being swallowed by Tony’s bigger frame. Kid really needed to eat more.

“I’m sorry for not telling you, Mr. Stark.” Peter said, slightly muffled by the shirt in his face. “But I was afraid you’d be angry. Even May was upset that I ruined my clothes.”

“Angry with you for being attacked?” Tony pulled back, but kept a firm hand on the kid’s shoulder and a small smile on his face. “Never.”

Eddie cleared his throat. “Hope I’m not interrupting you two.”

“Suppose we can’t exactly have an interview, can we?” Tony said slowly, standing next to Peter with a hand still on his shoulder. Peter had a gentle smile across his face. Eddie had hope they hadn’t scared him off.

“No one’s saying that.” Eddie argued playfully, matching Peter’s smile. “It’ll just be a bit different than you’re expecting.”

“No better place to start then.” he agreed. Tony looked like he was about to say something, but Eddie cut him off.

“Not in here would be a better place, actually.” he said. “This is more of an…. ‘intimidation’ room rather than ‘interview’.”

“Fair point.” Tony pat the kid’s shoulder once before walking over and opening the door, holding it for the two of them. “I know just the place.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos are nice, but comments make my day! Feel free to tell me what you thought! Even just a <3 as an extra kudo is good!


	5. Special Powers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Unsurprisingly, "We eat people" is a very controversial statement. Surprisingly, Peter seems ok with it.

Eddie already thought the Avengers Tower was a maze, but with how many twists and turns Tony was taking while leading him, he was even more certain of the fact. He didn’t expect that when Tony said ‘I know a place’ for him to lead him on and on through the halls in seemingly random directions. The only saving grace was that it wasn’t just the two of them. 

“How did you know it was me?” Peter asked cheerily. The kid had been striking up a conversation whenever silence occured, which he was grateful for. Eddie did find it funny, however, that he was so scared of his identity being known just a few minutes ago, but was now acting like it was never a big deal.

“We can taste the air.” he said simply. He knew it led to more questions, but, frankly, he didn’t mind being seen as a mysterious stranger. He wasn’t used to someone new coming in and thinking he was cool, instead of ‘that weird man who always talks to himself’.

“Like with your tongue?” Peter quirked an eyebrow. “Or is it like a special power?”

Eddie smirked. “Both.”

Peter gasped and looked so starry eyed that it warmed his heart. This kid was the definition of pure and Eddie was living for it. Kind in every aspect to them. And always waiting for an explanation before jumping to conclusions.

“Woah! So what do I smell like?” asked Peter, with an intrigued smile plastered on his face. “Hopefully not bad? I mean I shower every day.”

“You know what a soldering iron smells like?” Eddie picked up his pace to keep up with Tony’s sudden burst of speed. Peter followed suit, though he hardly seemed to notice.

“Yeah I work with one all the time.” he nodded furiously. “In my lab.”

“You smell like that and candy.” 

“I do eat candy a lot.” Peter noted, pulling up the hem of his shirt slightly. “And I don’t really like changing clothes after I’m done working. May always said that I should but I never listened to her.” he rubbed the back of his neck. “Guess I should start doing that.”

“That’d do it.” Eddie smiled. “And that’s just one of our many talents.”

“Ooh, what else can you do?” Peter asked, even more eagerly than before. He was practically bouncing with each step he was taking at that point.

“Well….” Eddie wasn’t sure where to begin. He tapped his chin in thought for a second or two, but decided to start with something small. “We can see everything.”

“Like a psychic?” Peter squealed in excitement. “That’s so cool! Can you tell me my future? Or is that against the psychic rules or something?”

This boy would be the death of them, Eddie swears. He was just too pure for his own good.

“Not quite, kiddo.” Eddie quirked his grin up to one side. “I meant we can see all around us at all times. Like having eyes in the back of your head. Or like having a sixth sense.”

“Woah! Even cooler!” 

Eddie doubted that it was truly cooler than being psychic, but he appreciated the enthusiasm. Even if Peter meant every word he said, Eddie thought being able to see the future was cooler than having eyes all around him. 

**We’re cool enough, Eddie. Don’t need to see the future.**

“I have a sixth sense too!” Peter continued. “I call it my Spider Sense. It helps warn me of danger!”

Tony whipped his head around to scold the kid, while also not slowing down his walk. “Hey, that’s classified information.” He sounded like a basketball coach talking to his star player.

But before Peter can apologize for something he shouldn’t have to apologize for, Eddie spoke up. “Classified except for you, huh?”

Tony just scowled and turned his head back around, grumbling something incomprehensible. Eddie took it as a win, especially when Peter’s smile didn’t falter through it all. This kid was so sweet, and he’d hate to see him scolded for talking about his own powers. 

Eddie wants to ask how he got them, but, somehow, he gets the feeling he shouldn’t. He supposes he wouldn’t want to talk about how he and Vee met, especially since he hadn’t mentioned how he could do those things.

All they saw was him partially suiting up. Nothing to suggest he was housing an alien. Tony briefly mentioned Vee, but talked about him in the past tense, so he had no reason to assume Eddie still had him. Still had the annoying, hungry, demanding alien, that is.

**You call us ‘love’. It can’t be that bad.**

Eddie scoffed out loud. _No need to point out the obvious. Hating you was never an option._

**We love Eddie**

Eddie almost ran into Tony when he suddenly stopped at a closed door, he was paying so little attention to his surroundings. He muttered out an apology, but his voice was discarded when the door beeped loudly, shoving aside part of the wall to make way for the door to open. It slid into the wall seamlessly, as if there had been no door in the first place.

Eddie gaped at the sight, but Tony just walked through it like he’d seen it a million times. And maybe he had, going by the way Peter walked passed it with the same confidence. Even as Eddie took his first steps into the room, he was just as shocked as he was with the door.

The room he was led into was _beautiful_. There was a large, black, curved couch in the center of the even larger room, facing a perfectly polished window outlooking the streets of Manhattan. There was a big glass table that curved along with the couch. No clutter anywhere, a far sight away from Tony’s lab, where clutter was all that was there.

This was a shared space, going by the kitchen off to the right side, hiding behind a counter with barstools across one side. To go with it, there were several kinds of spots to sit down, including the comfy-looking chairs next to the couch. There were even beanbags resting off against a far wall. Guess this room didn’t have a closet. Or maybe it was someone’s preferred choice of seating, so they kept it out.

Eddie would have guessed Peter, but when he looked over, he saw the kid already sitting down on one end of the couch, arms firmly in his lap. He wasn’t tense, per say, but instead trying hard not to shake with excitement.

Tony plopped himself down on one of the chairs with a hefty sigh. Eddie followed suit, deciding that the center of the couch was the most comfortable spot. He could turn to his left and comfortably look at both people at the same time.

“Now that we’re ready to talk like adults,” Tony spoke up. Peter practically beamed at the implication that he was an adult like them. “Let’s talk.”

“Sure thing, Tinman.” Eddie taunted, almost on instinct. He locked eyes with Peter, who looked almost ecstatic, and winked. To Eddie’s surprise, he winked back. “First things first: Introductions.” he closed his eyes, mostly for dramatic effect. “Vee, wanna come out and play?”

**Can we freak him out?**

Eddie grinned devilishly, a single, breathy laugh escaping through his nose. When he opened his eyes the look on Tony’s face shifted just a little. A tiny twitch in his hands, a slight narrowing of the eyes. It pleased him to see the man cowering in his seat just a little.

 _Scare the shit out of him, love._

Suddenly a pair of razor sharp teeth come sprawling out of Eddie’s left shoulder, closest to Tony. What followed suit was a wave of a black ink-looking substance, which created a pair of pearl white eyes shortly after. They blinked once slowly, staring right at Tony.

“ **Hello.** ”

Eddie focused his attention on Tony, who was currently gripping his armrests for dear life. It didn’t even look like he was breathing. Peter, on the other hand, seemed surprised, but not scared. Confused and intrigued, but not scared. Tony on the other hand, well, Eddie couldn’t help but laugh at his wide eyes, like Anne’s old calico.

“J-Jesus Christ, what the actual _hell_?” Tony stuttered out, sounding a tad angry. Like he couldn’t believe what he was seeing, but was still frustrated that it confused him.

“You wanted to know about the alien I was housing.” Eddie smirked. He gestured towards the shark row of teeth settled on his shoulder. “Well, meet Venom.”

**Did we do good, Eddie?**

_You did wonderfully_ he praised. Vee crooned at his words, letting a deep purr resonate through his core. It felt like a gentle hug encompassing his whole body.

“Okayyyyy then” Tony’s eyes are still wide, refusing to leave Vee, but he keeps talking like he isn’t scared out of his mind. Eddie has to commend the effort he’s putting into the ‘tough guy’ act. “And what do you...do?”

Vee didn’t hesitate to say “ **We eat people we do not like.** ”

Eddie quickly cut off anything the two of them would have to say before they can even get a single disapproving word out. “Not exactly.” he defended, with a raised index finger. “We only eat very bad people. Serial killers and the like.”

Tony blinked once. “You _eat_ people?”

Eddie laughed awkwardly. “Yes?”

“....Whole?”

“Sometimes.” he admitted quietly. He glanced up at Vee, who was now resting on his shoulder, coiling a portion of himself around Eddie’s arm. Vee sometimes liked eating people whole, and that was something Eddie couldn’t change. At least it left less evidence.

Tony and him had a sort of fearful staring contest, with Tony not being able to decide who he was more disgusted with - Eddie or Vee. “Who does the eating?” he asked tentatively.

“Technically...both of us.” Eddie was somewhat happy that he’s not outright attacking them or calling them a villain. Anti-hero is the proper term, but the specifics were Eddie’s business and his alone.

Tony whispers a very quiet, but passionate “ _What the fuck_?” that was so soft they had trouble hearing it.

“I know it’s a bit unconventional but-” he tried to defend himself even more, before he burnt any more bridges he hadn’t even crossed yet.

“Can I go fighting with you?” Peter interrupted before he could even start.

“Can you- what?” he asked, incredulous. The kid, who he thought would hate him when he talked about his methods of crime fighting, spoke up, clearly not bothered by them. “You want to...huh?”

“Crime fighting. We have to go out together.”

“Crime fighting? I don’t- what?” he asked, though he wasn’t even sure what he was asking at that point.

Eddie felt so confused. Suddenly the kid was going off about fighting with them. First he was cool with them eating people, and now he was excited to see them do it? It made no sense.

“Tonight it is.” Peter declared proudly, clapping his hands once. “Meet me on-”

“Woah there kid, no one’s doing anything.” Tony interrupted before Peter could continue. He held out a hand, as if Peter was about to jump on Eddie right then and there. “Not until we sort this out.”

Eddie, for once, agreed with the man. Just what on earth was happening? He didn’t want to continue until they had it all sorted out. But Peter had other ideas.

He shook his head wildly. “You don’t understand Mr. Stark! He’s so cool, we _have_ to go out together.” he gasped once. “And Shuri! She _has_ to meet him!”

Peter stood up suddenly, grabbing Eddie by his sweater sleeve. Using a surprising amount of strength, he pulls Eddie up and starts dragging him out of the room. “Come on!” he giggles. “She’s gonna love you!”

“Kid wait!” Tony stood up, nearly knocking over his chair, and reached out an arm as if he could stop them.

But they were already long gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of a shorter chapter, but I hope you enjoyed it nonetheless. Please let me know what you thought! Even just a <3 as an extra kudos is good!


	6. Acceptable Compromise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eddie meets Shuri and she takes the conversation in a direction neither Eddie nor Peter was expecting.

Eddie didn’t know what to expect - or, more accurately, _who_ to expect - when Peter dragged them around the winding maze of a tower, but this was not it. Unlike most of the doors he was brought up to, this one was not conveniently labeled, except for a single deep purple, and almost glowing, stripe across it.

If Eddie squinted he could have sworn there was writing hidden inside of it, but Peter put in a code into a panel on the side of the wall, making it slide out of view before he could read it.

The sight inside was nothing special, as far as laboratories went. The back wall was lined with training dummies, thick and heavy looking, with various levels of destruction damage littered across the surfaces. A wide, deep blue training mat was off to the right side (a common occurrence in gyms). 

And the back wall, just in front of the dummies, had floor lines that marked distances (Eddie thought it was by meters, but he was too far away to tell).

“Honey, I’m home!” Peter shouted into the seemingly empty room. Eddie knew it wasn’t, considering he dragged them across several floors just to meet someone, but it was his initial reaction.

“Welcome home.” Eddie heard from around the left-side corner. A female voice, charming and confident sounding, was what he heard.

And he was not disappointed when Peter, who had not let go of their slowly tearing sweater sleeve, pulled them along the wall and to the side where the person was.

She was, well...gorgeous, if Eddie had to pick a word. She had intricate braids, pulled tightly against the sides of her head that led into a bun-looking tangle of braids and blue beads. They obviously were pulled into that on purpose, and was not actually a tangle, but it was the best description Eddie could come up with at that moment.

She was wearing a dark blue top with no sleeves, but a high neck piece. Everything about her screamed royalty. He hadn’t even known anything about her besides her name, and even he could tell she was above him.

“Oh.” was all she said upon seeing them. He couldn’t tell if he’d made a good impression by ‘oh’, but that reaction was most certainly because Vee had not bothered to hide himself. He was resting comfortably on Eddie’s right shoulder with a smug grin on his face. Eddie had half a mind to scold him if he scared her off.

“Shuri, meet Eddie Brock!” Peter said before they had the chance to introduce themselves on a better note. “And Venom!”

“Venom?” she asked, with raised (and curious) eyebrows. Good, they could work with curiosity. Lord knows they had enough trouble getting Peter out of ‘scared mode’.

“ **We are Venom**.” Vee rumbled, slithering around his neck and to the other side, as if his right shoulder wasn’t good enough.

“Interesting.” She said, stepping closer. She had long since discarded whatever project she had in her hands when they walked in. Instead, she favored reaching out a hand to touch Vee lightly. He reacted by rippling across Eddie’s neck, but leaned into her touch.

Eddie watched helplessly as she poked, stroked, and squeezed Vee lightly. She hummed every once in a while, pausing to inspect him more in certain parts.

“Soooo…” Peter, who had also been forced to watch helplessly, finally spoke. “Do you like them?”

“I could ask them a million questions, if that’s what you’re asking.” she said, smiling softly at Peter. Eddie let a sigh of relief out of his chest. He was worried they had scared her off, but if she was looking to play twenty questions, _that_ they could do.

“We couldn’t answer a million, but a thousand we could do.” Eddie joked. 

Lucky for them, she was receptive. “I won’t ask without finding a chair to sit down in first.” she said after a breathy laugh. “I’m sure I have one or two around here.” She turned to look around, but saw only what Eddie saw too: A single office chair lined up against a workbench full of inventions.

“Ooh, I can go get mine!” Peter piped up. “My lab is right next to Shuri’s. It’ll only be a minute!”

He was out of the door before Eddie (or Shuri) could provide a reaction. Shuri just clicked her tongue and said “Don’t worry about him. He always does that.”

“So I’ve noticed.” Eddie agreed slowly.

To his credit, he really was back within a minute. Though, Eddie swears he heard thumping in the ceiling before he came back. He thought that the rooms were soundproof, but, then again, maybe not.

Peter had come into the room disheveled and out of breath, dragging along two huge beanbags, blue and red respectively. “Got ‘em!” he said triumphantly.

Eddie stepped up to help him bring them closer and Peter gave him an appreciative smile. When they both deemed the center of the room the most comfortable, they practically threw themselves down onto the cushions.

Peter took the red one and Eddie took the blue one. Shuri had, when they weren’t looking, wheeled over her sole office chair, and sat herself down onto it, crossing one leg over the other.

“Nice to meet you, Venom.” she looked at Eddie for a second, but deemed Vee more interesting. “Is that the name you go by?”

“ **We are Venom. And we are Eddie**.” he spoke. “ **But Eddie calls us ‘Vee’**.”

Shuri raised an eyebrow. “What does that mean?” she tapped on her knee twice. “That you are Eddie?”

Vee seemed comfortable talking for the two of them so Eddie let him continue. It was good for him to have interactions with people besides Eddie (and without eating them afterwards).

“ **We are Eddie together**.” Vee paused, looking at Eddie. “ **Eddie was a loser. We found him and bonded. Now we are one**.”

“Not a parasite, then.” Shuri mused. “You seem to like going by ‘we’ so I’d say it’s consensual.”

Eddie shook his head wildly. “No, definitely not a parasite.” he absentmindedly rubbed the back of his neck. “We are...well…”

“ **We are in love**.”

“Wait what?” Peter, who’d been paying close attention so far, squeaked. “You’re _what_?”

Eddie felt the blush go straight to his face. _Vee, you’re embarrassing us_.

“ **Eddie calls us ‘love’**.” Vee continued, against his will. “ **Eddie feeds us chocolate and kisses us**.”

Seemingly unphased, Shuri asks “And how long have you been in love?”

“Don’t answer that, Vee.” Eddie butted in. “They don’t need to know the in’s and out’s of our relationship.”

“How about we talk about powers, then?” Shuri continued, still unphased. He wasn’t sure if she could be surprised at that point. Calm and collected were the perfect words to describe her. It was impressive, really.

“ **We are strong. We are fast. And we eat people we do not like**.”

Eddie took it back. She, apparently, could be surprised, going by the dead silence between the three of them. Eddie was grateful that Peter had already heard this already. Shuri, on the other hand, was just brought into the fact that cannibalism was a common thing with them.

“And how do you feel about that?” she turned to face Peter.

Peter blinked once blankly. “I...I don’t know how I feel about it. I mean...I know they’re not a bad guy, but I’ve been trying to work out why they eat people.”

Eddie wanted to tell him why. It was a simple and understandable reason. They just wanted to live. And they needed to eat brains if they wanted to live. But, then again, going in strong with ‘We will die otherwise’ felt like an unwise decision.

He felt like that would put a lot of pressure on Peter to force himself to be ok with them munching heads when they were with him. At least, if the kid still wanted to go fighting with them. He hoped he hadn’t changed his mind in the time it took to meet Shuri.

Then again, maybe talking to Shuri was the wake-up call Peter needed to come to his senses. The senses that told him that eating people was not ok.

“We...we need to,” Eddie said slowly. “We can’t explain why, at least not right now, but one day we’ll tell you.”

“Is this one of those ‘We’ll tell you when you’re older’ things?” Peter laughed once awkwardly. “Cause that would suck.”

Eddie nodded once solemnly. “Afraid so.”

The silence that fell between them was suffocating. Eddie felt like Peter would up and walk away if they disappointed him more. And Shuri, well, he didn’t know enough about her to tell what she was feeling.

Thankfully, she was the one to break the silence.

“Well I, for one, don’t mind.” she said calmly. “I’ve seen weirder things that heroes do. The question is: What are you going to do about it, Peter?”

Peter opened his mouth like he was about to say something, but snapped it shut before anything came out. Shuri waited patiently for an answer, while Eddie was trying not to panic. The rest of their relationship - the one Eddie would really like to keep - depended on what Peter said next.

“I-I like them.” he started. “I don’t know why they eat people, but if it’s really that important, then I won’t ask. I just…”

Shuri hummed in response. “You just?”

“I just...feel a connection to them.” Peter fidgeted with the hands in his lap. “It’s like the opposite of my spider sense.”

Peter shrunk into himself a bit, bringing his hands closer and into an intertwining position. “Then again…” he said, facing Eddie and sounding small. “It’s probably that I just like how you treat me like an adult.”

Eddie raised an eyebrow. He definitely saw Peter like a kid. A reckless, hyperactive kid. Then again, he couldn’t help but think that if this ‘kid’ is old enough to be thrown through buildings and publically demonized like his fellow heroes, he should be treated like a damn adult.

“Everyone babies me.” Peter continued, not catching on to Eddie’s thoughts. “Mr. Stark barely lets me go on my own missions. Even Shuri treats me like a kid when we hang out.”

Shuri has the right to look offended at that, scrunching up her face. She gestures to herself with a pointed look at Peter. “I just don’t want you to get hurt testing my _own_ projects. Working with Vibranium is no joke.”

“Yeah, well...you still treat me like a kid.” Peter pouted, arms crossed. Shuri just stuck out her tongue at him with a teasing smile and a wink.

“Hey Peter?” Eddie began slowly. This conversation was not being taken in the direction he was expecting. “We literally call you ‘kid’ all the time.” 

“But with you it’s different.” Peter retorted with no hesitation, bringing his shoulders back up. “I don’t know why, it just is.”

Eddie was getting the feeling that it wasn't as much of a gut feeling as Peter was telling. He hadn’t seen or heard too much about the Avengers, but he could guess that they weren’t the most inviting to a sixteen year old.

If they treated him like a child, discarding his opinions and feelings, then it made sense that the first super-powered adult to come in and treat him properly was the person he felt a connection with.

Not to say that his feelings were invalid, but that was the most logical explanation. Eddie saw the way that Stark treated him. Scolding him for talking about his own powers, treating him more like an out-of-control toddler than a hero, and always calling him ‘kid’.

To be fair, Eddie called him ‘kid’ too, but never all the time. He used Peter’s name more than nicknames or synonyms for ‘child’.

“Peter, we appreciate that you feel a connection with us, but if it makes you uncomfortable, then we don’t think it’s a good idea to go out with us.” Eddie broke the tension yet again. 

Vee nodded once. “ **The spiderling is strong enough on his own**.”

Peter waved his hands and shook his head several times. “Woah, woah! No, I still want to go out and fight bad guys with you. I just- we...we need to come up with a compromise.”

“ **Compromise?** ”

“Yeah, like...maybe you don’t eat people when we go together?” Peter nodded once hesitantly. “Or I can find some way to help you not eat people in the first place? I mean there’s gotta be some alternative.”

“Vee?” Eddie looked up to his left shoulder. “How does that sound?”

A long pause later and “ **We find your terms acceptable**.” was all that he said. 

For once, Eddie agreed. They could hold back on feeding for the nights that they went out hunting - _fighting_ \- with Peter. At least, in theory they could.

Peter smiled for once in what felt like a long time. Thankful, Eddie finally felt like he could relax into his own smile.

“10:00 tonight? On top of ‘Sweet and Treats’?” Peter asked, still holding onto that big grin. Shuri seemed to be having a good time just listening to their conversation, if her slightly smaller smile was to go by.

“Tonight it is.” Eddie agreed. “Don’t be late.”

Peter smiled even wider. “Wouldn’t dream of it!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah so my posting schedule is a bit messed up. It's a toss up between two days and two weeks, honestly. Nevertheless, let me know what you thought! Even just a <3 as an extra kudos is good!


	7. Grievous Mistakes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eddie kept his promise to not eat anyone with Peter. But then again, he had more important things to worry about that night.

Eddie didn’t mind sitting out in the slightly chilly night air, especially when he had Vee as company. The rooftop flower garden across the street had someone who, every night without fail, would come water the plants. They would wave to Eddie sometimes, and tonight was no different.

He did mind, however, that it was 10:45 pm. Because Peter was supposed to meet them here almost an hour ago. They pulled out their phone. 10:47. Kid better have a damn good excuse for making them miss the ‘America’s Worst Chef’s’ marathon tonight.

“Sorry I’m late!” they heard from across the street, voice wobbly and slightly echoed. When they turned to look for the voice, a brightly colored Spiderman dropped in front of them, spindly webs flying away in the wind. 

He had always wondered where those went.

“You better have a good reason for being an hour late.” he crossed his arms. “And for why you’re screaming about it from across the street.”

“Oh...was I that loud?” Peter shrugged, giving them an awkward smile. “Sorry.”

Eddie sighed, unfurling his arms. “It’s fine. Let’s just get down to business before _someone_ gets hungry.”

Eddie took the scream from not too far away as his cue to suit up. Vee took the hint as well, seeping out of his body, flowing out of his chest, and expanding over his entire body until nothing was left that wasn’t black.

“ **Ready?** " Venom, fully formed, asked, gravelled and deep. Peter, to his credit, only seemed slightly scared of the seven foot monster in front of him. He nodded tightly, with the eyes on his suit wider than before.

Peter was the first to take off, leaping across to the next building where the scream was heard. Venom lept after him, letting him take the lead. They kept up a similar pace, jumping the large gaps in unison, until Peter stopped.

He leaned over the ledge, then turned back to Venom to gesture down below wordlessly. Venom reached out to hold the ledge while he looked over. In doing so, they saw what Peter had: a man in a black, baggy coat, rifling through a bright pink purse, with a middle-aged woman cowering near the back of the alley. When they looked closer they saw the gun settled in the man’s other hand.

Seemed like a cut-and-dry robbery to Eddie. It would be an easy way to see how Peter handled things in his city.

Peter dropped down a few feet away from the man, quickly throwing out a web to snatch up the purse from the ground. “Woah there pal, don’t you know it’s not nice to steal from a lady?”

When Peter had dropped down, they had as well, but they stuck to the far back of the alley, trying to stay unseen. From their vantage point they saw the lady slowly standing up, using the wall as leverage. Her legs were shaking and she had a hand over her mouth, as if to keep herself from screaming for help.

“Spiderman.” the man snarled. “Just my luck that you’re here.”

The man raised his gun to fire, but Peter quickly snatched that out of his grip as well. “I don’t think so.” he taunted with a smirk that they could hear even under his mask. The gun was tossed aside, smacking against the wall. Eddie, inside Venom, winced. That could have gone off.

“How about we-?” Peter inched closer to the man.

They didn’t have time for this.

Venom let out a low growl, stepping out of his hiding place to swing an elongated tentacle towards said man. They wrapped him up in a fierce grip, pulling him back, passed Peter, and towards them in an instant. When he was close enough that Venom could hear his whimpers, they resisted the urge to bite the man’s delicious head off, instead throwing him against the wall harshly.

When he didn’t get up for several seconds, they felt they could take their eyes off of him.

 **“Do not play with your food**.” they growled out, whipping their head around to face Peter. “ **Do not give them the chance to run**.”

Peter, who hadn’t taken his eyes off of them, nodded slowly, unblinking. “Right.”

Seeing the coast was clear, the woman ignored the bulking figure of Venom and ran down towards them. She lowered herself to grab her purse, but kept running, refusing to look at Venom.

Venom growled again, though hardly voluntarily. He made his way over to the man’s unconscious body and ruffled through his coat. From it, they salvaged a beaten up, brown, leather wallet, a slightly cracked phone, and a notebook from his inside pocket. 

“Y-You’re stealing his stuff?” Peter crept up behind them. “Isn’t that what he just did?”

“ **It is how we get by**.” Venom said, unphased by the disappointment in Peter’s voice. He sunk the scavenged items into his chest, to be taken out when the night was over. “ **We do what we must**.”

“It’s still stealing.” Peter’s voice cracked. “That’s not ok.”

Venom let out a sound like a sigh, though no air escaped. “ **We will talk about this later. For now, we hunt**.”

“...Ok. But still no eating people, right?” he asked, sounding unsure, even through the mask.

They couldn’t help but chuckle. “ **Not tonight, spiderling**.”

The next time a crime came up, it wasn’t a loud cry or gunshot that tipped them off. It was the smell. A thick, oily, and overall _nasty_ smell.

Following the trail, the two of them came across a man holding the object with the foul scent. He was bent over on the sidewalk of a half-abandoned street, save for a few stores and apartments, stuffing a wine bottle with what looked to be the ripped-off part of a shirt sleeve.

Eddie could tell it wasn’t alcohol in the bottle. He was raised around a father who drank all day and night; he could tell that wasn’t wine.

And if they knew what he was making, then it meant they needed to do something _now_.

“ **You grab the bottle. We grab him**.” they whispered in Peter’s direction. He nodded once, jumping down at the same time Venom did.

Wordlessly, Peter spit a web out to wrap around the bottle, as well as the bright green lighter the man had taken out of his hoodie pocket, and pulled them into his hands.

Not more than a second after Peter did so, Venom wrapped two tentacles around the man’s shoulders, pulling him close. His legs scraped against the sidewalk, catching several times along the cracks as he scrambled to get away.

A string of “No...no no no _please_ no.” was let out as Venom dragged him closer. 

Peter had the bottle in a death grip, threatening to crack under the pressure. As if he was waiting to see if Eddie would keep his promise. 

It was tempting, at least to Vee, but Eddie had to step in when they finally got a good look at the man. Because ‘man’ was not the right word. This was a teenager, sixteen at best, who was cowering, unable to move, in front of them.

Just a stupid teenager about to do something stupid.

And he could tell the weight of his crime hit when the teenager started to cry. They released their hold on him, tentacles slithering back to form their regular arms again. Even when he was freed, the kid just cried into his hands, curling up into a ball on the ground.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.” he whispered so softly that Eddie doubted it was meant for them to hear.

Peter set down the bottle on the ground, just after slipping the lighter in a previously unseen pocket. He crouched down near the kid and put a hand on his shoulder. 

“It’s ok.” he said quietly. Eddie knew that what he was about to do was not ok, but he’d let Peter handle this his way. They slinked back a few feet away, trying to give the two of them distance.

“I don’t know what I was thinking.” the kid said back, just as quietly. “My mom would hate me. She’d never forgive me.”

“Yeah that was pretty stupid of you.” Peter huffed out a small, almost unheard laugh. “But you didn’t do it. And I think that matters.”

When the kid lifted his hands from his face, his tear stained cheeks were all the information Eddie needed to know that this was over.

“Go home.” Peter squeezed his shoulder. “Tell your mom you love her.”

The kid, using the sidewalk (and Peter’s hand) as leverage, slowly stood up. He nodded at Peter, wiped the tears from his eyes, and walked away with only a small “Thank you” as his final words.

Eddie had never felt more proud of Peter than in that moment. “ **Good job**.”

Peter was practically vibrating with excitement. “You think I did good?” Even under the mask, Eddie could tell he was smiling. 

“ **You handled that well**.” they told him, a hand on his shoulder.

Eddie would have handled it worse, probably. He wouldn’t have comforted the kid, he would have scared him into never even _thinking_ about doing something like that again. Eddie was proud of Peter the most for sticking to his morals, even in the face of danger. That took a lot of gut and determination.

Unfortunately, crime never stopped. Before either of them could talk, a distant car alarm went off. It could have been a false alarm, Eddie supposed, and he could have ignored it and called it a night, but Peter took off before he could.

He let out a lengthy sigh and followed suit, hopping buildings until Peter abruptly stopped. Before they could even see what was going on, he’d hopped down off of the building and was approaching the car, of which the alarm was still going off.

In front of the driver’s side door was a burly man in a big black hoodie with a symbol Eddie didn’t recognize pasted on the front of it. He was doing something to the door, but Eddie had to crane his neck to see what it was.

Peter was inching closer, and Eddie got a bad feeling. Especially when he saw what was in the man’s hand. “ **Pe** -” he clasped a hand over his mouth to keep himself from saying anything else.

Peter, unaware, placed a hand on the man’s shoulder. “You-”

Venom hadn’t jumped down fast enough to help when the man whipped around and swiped at Peter with the knife in his hand. And he wasn’t fast enough to keep the serrated blade from digging into Peter’s left hip. 

But he was fast enough to keep it from happening again. 

Within a second, the man was smashed against the car, creating a huge dent in its side. The alarm was still going off and it hurt their ears, so they used the man as a ragdoll to keep hitting it until it finally stopped its incessant whining.

The man, once dropped, was bloody as hell, with surely at least one broken bone, but maybe that was what he deserved for hurting their kid.

They didn’t even bother to make sure he wouldn’t get back up - they hit hard enough to make sure of that - they just went straight for Peter. He was curled up in a ball on the ground, clutching his side. He was making the most heart wrenching whimper that hurt just to hear, let alone watch.

“ **Kid.** ” they whispered. They reached out a hand to gingerly touch the wound, but Peter curled up tighter, not letting them get close enough. They needed to get him to safety _now_.

As carefully as they could, they lifted Peter from the ground, making sure not to touch the wound - Peter was doing a good enough job of keeping pressure on it.

They jumped onto the building above them and took off in the direction of their apartment. The streets were a blur as they passed by. Venom was doing the running, while Eddie was barely keeping it together inside.

He couldn’t take his eyes off of Peter, but kept a steady stream of “ **You’re gonna be ok. We’re gonna help. It’s going to be ok. We can help.**.” even as they ran.

And when they finally got to his apartment’s fire escape, they forced their living room window open in a split second. It didn’t matter if the snap they heard was the lock breaking or not. All they knew was that they needed to help Peter.

They didn’t even close the window behind them, they just stepped into their apartment and looked for the best place to set Peter down on. The couch seemed like the best choice, though they knew getting blood stains out would be hard.

But he had to get his costume off before he could do anything. “This is gonna hurt, but I have to take your suit off. Hopefully you're wearing clothes underneath.” he tried to laugh, but found all that came was a choked out breath.

He set him down as gently as they could, though when Peter cried out in pain, he knew he wasn't gentle enough.

And even gentler, they pulled his suit up, trying _so_ hard to not disturb the wounded skin. “Sorry to whoever made this suit, but it’s gotta go.” he mumbled. He tried hard to ignore the cries of pain coming from Peter.

Vee created a blade-like appendage, of which Eddie used to carefully slice the suit off of Peter. When all that was left of it was splayed open under Peter’s back, he let the blade fade back into his arm.

Peter, luckily, was wearing clothes underneath. Though his formerly white shirt was covered in deep red blood, he saw the spot on his left side where the skin was torn up in shreds. He’d track down and kill the man for using a knife, let alone a serrated one, on Peter.

Even though he’d seen the gruesome damage, he said “It’s gonna be ok, kid.”

He stood up, not having realized he’d de-Venom’d until now. “It’s gonna be ok.” he repeated, though it was mostly for himself. He made his way to the bathroom, where he tore open the cabinet looking for the first aid kit he hadn’t touched in his months of being Venom.

When he found it, he didn’t even bother to open it, he just sped back to Peter. If he didn’t move quickly he could be in serious trouble.

He practically threw himself down onto the floor in front of Peter. He was shaking heavily - whether that was because he was cold or because he was crying was a mystery - and Eddie knew he had to do this quickly.

He took the bandages out and set out to work on wrapping the wound, which was slowing down in bleeding (partly because Peter hadn’t stopped holding it), but was looking worse than ever. He coaxed Peter into lifting his hand off of the wound with the promise that this would only take a second.

And maybe that was a lie (it would take over a minute), but he didn’t have time to worry about that. He just set out to wrap it around and around his stomach tightly, lifting him up gently when they needed to run it under him. When he ran out of bandages to wrap, he tied one end to the other, hoping that it was enough to fully stop the bleeding.

Peter coughed, reaching to grip the wound again, but Eddie grabbed his hand before he could. “Don’t touch it, bud.”

After a moment of silence, Peter let his hand sit on his stomach. 

Eddie took the moment of silence to calm his heart. He hadn’t realized that he was hyperventilating until Peter was patched up. He himself was shaking, though Peter had stopped who knew how long ago.

“Please...” Peter whispered. “Don’t tell Mr. Stark.”

He tried to laugh, but it felt hollow. “That’s what you’re worried about? Kid you got stabbed.”

“Please?” Peter begged. “He’ll tell May.”

Eddie had no words, honestly he didn’t. This was a kid who just got stabbed and all he was worried about was not getting in trouble with who he assumed was his mom. Then again, if ‘May’ was anything like Anne, Peter would be in trouble. For being just as reckless and idiotic as Eddie was before he met Vee.

“Ok. I won’t tell him.” he eventually said. “If that’s what you want.”

Taking another look at Peter’s side, the bandages seemed to be faring well. Not too bloody, but obviously doing their job of keeping everything together.

“Can you…” Peter sounded near to tears. “Can you get my phone?” Eddie nodded, silently asking where it was. “Right pocket of my suit.” 

Eddie reached across him, fishing around for it. When he finally found it, he debated handing it to Peter, but decided against it. “What do you want me to do?” 

“Call Mr. Stark.” he didn’t sound as close to tears as before. “Put him on speaker phone.”

Eddie obliged silently, scrolling through the few contacts Peter had until he found the one. He, with one final nod from Peter, hit the call button. It only rang for a few seconds before he picked up. Eddie immediately put him on speaker.

“Kid what’s going on? Are you in trouble?” the slightly staticky voice of Tony Stark said.

“I’m ok!” Peter said, surprising Eddie with how cheerful he sounded. “Just wanted to let you know I got home safe!”

“Jeez kid, don’t give me a scare like that. When you said you were going out with that Brock guy, I wasn’t so sure. How’d it go?” Tony asked, followed by a noise that sounded like a phone being shifted.

“It went great! We stopped some bad guys together!” Peter’s voice betrayed him when he shifted to sit up, making the last part sound more like a squeak than words. “But I have to go, school work and all that. Bye Mr. Stark!”

Peter silently urged Eddie to hang up when Tony tried to keep talking. “Hold on, Pe-” Eddie hung up before he could continue.

“Anything else you need?” Eddie asked quietly, setting the phone down on the table. Peter just shook his head. He seemed content to sit down in the dark, silent room until he fell asleep, but Eddie wouldn’t let that happen if he had anything to say about it.

He didn’t want to leave Peter, but he made his way to the hallway closet to dig out the softest blanket he could find. A deep blue plush blanket big enough to cover his entire couch (a gift from Anne) was the one he picked.

When he came back into the living room, Peter had his eyes half-open, leaning back into the couch. He smiled, fluffing out the blanket, before gently covering Peter with it.

He took the other side of the couch, sliding under the blanket as well. Vee reached a tentacle out to grab the remote, and Eddie took it from him, thanking him silently.

Channel 66 had his favorite cooking show, so that was the one they switched to once the T.V was on. Peter’s half-lidded eyes opened slowly, turning to look at the screen.

Eddie had the volume low, but also had subtitles on so they could both enjoy it. The only light coming into the room was the T.V, a sight Eddie was familiar with in his many insomniac sleepless nights.

Peter sighed softly, resting his head deeper into the cushion. Eddie took it as a good sign, mimicking his action. It didn’t matter that he still had his shoes on and was covered in blood, he was tired.

“Goodnight, kiddo.” he mumbled. “Sleep tight.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A longer chapter this time, to make up for the shorter one last update! Hope you enjoyed!
> 
> Kudos are nice but comments make my day. Feel free to let me know what you thought, even if it's just a <3 as an extra kudos!


	8. Motherly Ways

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eddie takes Peter on a shopping trip around town. But someone is waiting at home, not too happy that he hadn't come home last night.

If the first thing Peter learned about them was that they didn't like ketchup on hot dogs...well, he didn't know what he'd do. Hate himself for it, most likely. But with the way Peter cheerfully pulled him across town, he was having trouble feeling any kind of self loathing.

**We would never hate Eddie**

He took another bite of his still-warm hot dog one handedly, as Peter had the other. The kid pulled him along the busy sidewalk, stopping at whatever caught his eye. And as he did it again, gasping at something in another store window and halting his fast pace just to look for a few seconds, Eddie was reminded so much of his dates with Anne.

Back when they were still madly in love, he’d take her on outings like these, letting her lead the way to wherever she wanted to go. If she wanted to look at pretty purses and flashy jewelry (the kind they both knew she’d never wear) that day, then god help him because one thing was for certain: He was going to go with her.

But something in what he was doing today was fundamentally different. Not that he didn’t have fun with her, but going with Peter was just...different. In some way he couldn’t quite pick. With Anne, it wasn’t a question if he liked the things she looked at - she knew he didn’t care about scarves and hats - but about how long he would let it go on.

With Peter, he was _always_ asking if he liked something. He’d drag him off to a store that looked interesting, not because Peter thought so, but because he thought Eddie would enjoy it. And he was always thinking it was a burden to have fun. That he should keep his happiness in check, as to not annoy Eddie. Peter was always thinking that _he_ was a burden.

Eddie wanted to correct that as quickly as possible. 

“How about we get some funnel cake?” he offered, spotting a nearby stand. “You like that, yeah?”

 **More food?** Vee perked up in their head.

Peter smiled brightly. “I haven’t had it in years, but I _love_ that stuff!”

It was Eddie’s turn to pull Peter down the street by his sleeve. “Then let’s get some. It’s on me.”

“I can pay.” Peter quickly added. It was another thing Eddie wanted to correct. 

He was the one who said they should go out today. He was the one who would be eating the most (sharing bodies with a constantly-hungry alien would do that). And, more importantly, he was the adult between the two of them.

Peter may be a hero, and someone who makes his own money, mostly from his internship with Stark Industries, but Eddie would feel horrid taking money from a teenager. Aside from that, just because he had the money didn’t mean he had to spend it, especially not on them.

“Nah, I got it.” he replied. He sent Peter a look, like this was not up for debate. Peter just smiled and shrugged his shoulders. 

And so a strange dance began between the two of them. Peter would spot something and rush over, soon after looking for his approval. And Eddie would oblige, even if it was something he didn’t find that interesting. Comic books weren’t his thing, but that didn’t mean he would be a jerk about it. Same with teenage fashion, of which there were a few stores Peter led them into.

He would even look at things for his friends. Mj and Ned, if Eddie remembers correctly. Unless Peter really liked bracelets and earrings. Either way, it was all very fun to watch.

Until Peter caught onto his weakness.

They were in a record store, a small one off the side of an even smaller street. The quaint, homey kind, with Elvis records hung above the door proudly. Eddie had been content to take a wandering eye around the store while Peter did the same, listening to a Beatles song he thought he’d heard once before play from the record player by the counter.

At least, he had been content to do that...until he spotted the store’s Frank Sinatra collection. Five pristine, mint condition records off to one side of the store. He practically ran over, gasping like a little kid.

He’d always wanted a record and, by god, if he was going to get one, it was going to be the infamous jazz man himself. He barely noticed Peter as he marched himself up to the counter, where a man in shaggy blond hair, a loose and severally worn out gray Nickelback t-shirt, and ripped jeans was sat down.

“I want to buy one of those records.” he basically demanded, leaning against the counter.

The man looked him up and down, nearly sneering when he saw someone who didn’t have the right amount of money he was looking for. “Not for sale.”

“What?” he felt mostly confused, but also a bit more angry than he should be. “This is a record store and you’re not selling records?”

“Records, sure.” the man titled his head to the side, then gestured behind Eddie. “But not those ones.”

“Why have them on the rack, then?” Eddie felt himself get more riled up the more he spoke. The man shrugged, looking back to his phone.

**We can eat him.**

Vee wasn’t phrasing it as a question, and Eddie wasn’t looking for a meal right now, nor for the police to be called, so he scoffed and turned the other way around. “Whatever.” he ground out through grit teeth.

He heard Peter say a quick ‘Goodbye’ on their way out, but he just wanted to get some air and cool down. On their way out, he took a last look at those hung records. God, he hated Elvis.

He let out a sigh once the door closed behind them. He knew he shouldn’t be feeling so bummed out. There had to be more record stores around the city, this one wasn’t special. Still, he _was_ feeling bummed out. Incredibly so. Nevertheless, he tried to move on.

“Anywhere else you wanted to go before I take you home?” he turned to ask Peter. Only to be met with blank air. “Peter?”

He turned to look back at the store, still seeing the door shut behind them. Or, had it been opened again? He couldn’t exactly see through the solid door, and the setting sun was reflecting off of the big window in the wall next to it, making it impossible to look through.

“Maybe he walked off?” he mumbled to himself.

**Did Eddie lose the child?**

“I dunno, did we?” he took another look around, searching for Peter’s bright blue shirt. “Kid?” he called out.

Suddenly he felt a tug on his arm. When he looked down, it was Peter, carrying a dark gray plastic bag. Wordlessly, he pulled the sides open to show what was inside. And, to Eddie’s surprise, it was a record. “Decide you wanted one?” he asked. Peter _had_ been looking at a few of them. 

Peter shook his head, smiling as he pulled out the record. Eddie could have hugged the kid for hours when he saw the “Songs for Swingin’ Lovers” cover page, wrapped up tightly in clear packaging.

“You didn't.” he felt speechless. “How?”

“A bit of sweet-talking.” he smirked, but let it fall just after. “And a lot of money.”

Eddie reached out a hand to place on his shoulder. “You didn’t have to do that for us.” he sighed. “How much was it?”

Peter opened his mouth, but snapped it shut just after. “If I tell you, are you going to try and pay me back?” 

That was indeed his plan. But he couldn’t bring himself to lie. He nodded, pursing his lips. “At least let me give some of it back.”

Peter shook his head in a short burst, setting the record back in the bag. “No can do. This one was on me, Mr. Brock. You’ve already paid for so much.”

“Call me Eddie.” he corrected almost immediately. Another thing they had to break. Not every adult deserved the level of respect he paid them.

“Ok...Eddie.” Peter said hesitantly. It sounded like he was trying out a foreign word for the first time. It was a bit worrying that he hardly called anyone by their first name aside from his friends. And even then, Eddie doubted ‘MJ’ was her first name.

**Like how Eddie calls us ‘love’ even though we are Venom?**

“We’ll work on that another time.” he sighed, looking up to the still setting skyline. “For now, we gotta get you home.”

Truth be told, Eddie didn’t know which direction was ‘home’ for Peter, but the kid led the way like he’d been on these streets for all his life. And, if he didn’t already know it, Eddie would have figured out something was enhanced about the kid with how agile he was.

Eddie was bumping into people left and right (angering Vee quite a bit), but Peter weaved in between the busy street like no one was there.

And then, just as suddenly, Peter stopped in front of an apartment building. Eddie looked up and down the small tower of rooms, finding it normal, if a bit rundown. No, it was more than a bit rundown, now that he was looking closer.

Cracks in the walls, small vines scaling from the shrubbery in front, and more than a few discolored bricks. He had a pang of anger when he thought about how much money Stark had. And how the man could give Peter better living conditions.

Then again, he tried to soothe himself, he shouldn’t judge a building by the outside. But then he got inside and felt that anger again. The walls were stained with some unknown color (he couldn’t even tell what but it was gross-looking) and the lights affixed to the ceiling were dim and flickering.

But Peter walked to the staircase like nothing was wrong, humming a little tune.

Eddie couldn’t help but think that the kid was better off living at his apartment. At least there weren’t any cockroaches there, unlike the several he’d seen scittering around the concrete stairs he was being led up.

**We would eat tasty bugs if there were any at our dwelling**

Peter rapped three times on an apartment door on the third floor. He opened it slowly at first, peeking inside, then swung it all the way open. “May?” he called out, hand cupped around his mouth. “Are you home?”

He ushered Eddie in with his right hand, not taking his eyes off of the living room. Eddie quickly walked in and shut the door behind him. The door did not make it easy by being quiet, but instead squeaked all the way closed.

Nearly immediately afterwards, an adult woman, not too much older than himself, stepped around a corner. “Peter? Is that you?” she said, rushing up to him. “Why didn’t you come home last night?”

Peter froze in his place, wide eyed. “I forgot to call you.”

She didn’t look too surprised, nor as disappointed as Eddie thought she would be. “Oh no, hun. What happened?” was what she said, instead of a scolding.

“I…” Peter looked up to Eddie, pleading eyes begging for something, _anything_ to tell her besides ‘I got stabbed’.

“We just got caught up. I’m- I’m also a hero.” Eddie shook down the panic. It was totally fine for someone to know. It _was_. No matter how much anxiety it gave him to think about it.

She sighed softly. “So you went out together?”

Eddie nodded. “Yeah, he slept over at my place.” he tried to laugh, but it felt small in comparison to an angry mother. “Couldn’t have him wandering the streets too late, you know?”

“And where did you go today without calling me?” she directed at Peter.

Peter, instead of looking scared (or whatever emotions parents are supposed to make you feel besides that), smiled. “We went around town and bought a bunch of stuff! Then we had funnel cake and hot dogs and cotton candy! And I bought him a record cause the dude running the store was dumb and didn’t let him have one. And then-”

She cut him off with a hug. “I’m just glad you’re ok.”

She pulled back just after Peter returned it. Then the soft, gray sweater draped around her shoulders, nearly slipping off already, was pushed back up. “And who’s this?”

“Oh, this is Eddie!” said Peter. “He’s super cool! He helped me fight and taught me a bunch of stuff and Shuri really likes him too!”

“Mhm.” she said, mumbling something else. She looked him up and down, seemingly evaluating. He hoped he would pass whatever test she had for him. He’d hate to be banned from seeing Peter again because his mom said so.

Just as she was about to say something, Peter cut her off with a loud yawn. His eyes were drooping heavily and he was slouched over like he was about to collapse. May noticed it too, shaking his shoulder gently to wake him.

“You should go to bed. You have school tomorrow.” she said softly.

Peter agreed with a thumbs up, stumbling off around the same corner she came from. The way to bedrooms, Eddie assumed. Once he heard the click of a door, he assumed the kid had safely made it inside. 

“Would you like something to drink?” May asked, already opening the cabinets for two glass cups.

“Water would be nice.” he said, even though he thought once Peter was safely home, he was going to leave. 

She filled the two glasses up with tap water while he sat down at their small dinner table. Soon after, she set down the cold glass in front of him, then put her own on the opposite side. She took her seat quietly, then took a small sip.

“I guess at this point I could make a vague threat about what I would do if you hurt him but, for once...I don’t think I need to.” she turned her head to one side, never breaking that sad look in her eyes. “I think you understand why I love him.”

Eddie found himself nodding, noticing her company getting more and more strangely familiar. “I don’t understand a lot, ma’am, but I think I get it.”

She took a small sip from her drink, setting it down with a small clink afterwards. “And?”

“And he’s a reckless kid who doesn’t know when to back down.” Eddie let out a small laugh. “But he’s also the sweetest, kindest, most lovable kid I know.”

“And I think that’s why he likes you.” she added. “He talks about how people don’t respect him. Especially those other heroes. But he talks about you like he does Tony. And I trust Tony. Not always, but he gets Peter home safe.”

“He’s got a better track record than me.” he rubbed the back of his neck, shrinking inwards thinking about just last night, having to patch the kid up on his own couch instead of calling an ambulance. “I should have made him call his mom instead of his employer.”

She looked taken aback for a split second, but settled into a neutral expression just a second later. “I’m not his mother. I’m his aunt.”

“Oh.” was all Eddie could find himself to say. “I...guess he called you ‘May’ a lot. Most kids don’t call their parents by first names.”

Eddie, deep in his incredibly selfish core, wanted to ask about Peter’s parents, but he knew better than that. His own mother died before he could even say ‘I love you’. It wasn’t his place to ask.

“I know you’re wondering. And it’s...complicated.” she said, slowly and quietly. “I’m afraid I can’t tell you much.”

“You don’t have to tell me anything.” he said, just as slowly. “Not if you don’t want to.”

“No. I suppose I don’t.” she picked up her glass, staring at the table instead of at him. She took a long sip, then set it down in one swift, silent motion. “But I will.”

Eddie nodded once, recognizing that it was not the time to speak. He eyed his own glass, still full and now dripping with perspiration. Then he looked back up at her, to which she returned his glare with a flame in her eyes. A flickering, dull flame, but a flame.

“His parents are gone.” she began, somewhat harshly, yet with a soft tone. “They left him with me and my husband. Peter was practically our own, with the way Ben spoiled him. They were so close they were inseparable. But then…” she looked back down, twirling the ring on her finger. “Then I lost him. And Peter’s been feeling just as lost ever since.”

Eddie nodded again, refusing to think about the details. He didn’t want to think about Peter crying over a casket or watching his uncle’s body grow cold and lifeless while he could do nothing. And he refused to think about how the most cheerful kid he knew would grieve. 

“But some things give him peace. I can tell.” she continued. “Whenever he spends time with his friends. When he makes something new and can’t wait to show me.” she smiled softly. “And, just now, when he talked about you.”

“Is that a good thing?” he felt confused, yet somewhat familiar with the way she talked. Like he’d heard that voice somewhere before.

“It means that I can trust you, too.” she smiled again. “About as much as I trust Tony, that is. Which is, if you get him home to me safely, a good thing.”

Eddie let out a sigh of relief. He didn’t know why pleasing this woman he just met felt like an accomplishment, but it did. 

She stood up slowly, then pushed in her chair behind her. Eddie knew it was the time to leave when she picked up their glasses and dumped out the contents into the sink drain. He gave her a nod of thanks when she looked back up at him.

She escorted him to the door wordlessly, save for a small hum of approval when he pushed in the chair behind him as well. He tried to open the door quietly, but found that task quite difficult. Eventually it was open and he put one foot in. 

“Thank you for having me, May.” he said, with a courteous smile.

“Feel free to come back any time.” she returned his smile. 

Just as he took his final steps and was about to close the door behind him she stopped him in his tracks with a hand in the door. She leaned into his face and he felt a jolt of anxiety.

“But if you bring home my boy with more bloody bandages we’re gonna have a problem.” she smiled a hollow smile, then let the door close behind him with a final click.

Eddie had never felt more panic than at that moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to let me know what you thought! Even just a <3 as an extra kudos is much appreciated!


	9. Unexpected Invitations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sooner than Eddie expected, he is invited to Peter's lab. But all the kid wanted to do was see who was the better fighter. And, well, how could Eddie say no to a little play fighting?

“And that’s a new kind of web fluid I’m testing!” Peter pointed to another part of the only slightly organized work table. The whole thing was so much of a mess that Eddie could barely tell what was what.

“Web fluid?” he asked, leaning in towards the table. “I always thought it was like another power of yours.”

“No, it’s something I make!” Peter picked up a vial of a strange, white, bubbling liquid. “And this is where I make everything.”

Just like he said, Shuri’s lab was right next to Peter’s. Eddie just didn’t expect to be invited in so soon after he got the kid stabbed. He was still beating himself up over that.

But here he was, in Peter’s lab. It looked similar to Shuri’s in terms of layout. Counters and workbenches here and there (along with no chairs, he noticed). A blank whiteboard at the back of the room and a tool showcase along the left side.

Two mini fridges off to the right, of which Eddie assumed one held snacks and the other experiments. 

The weirdest thing was that there was a big metal pole near the back of the room, next to a spiraling staircase. It was like a fireman's pole, or so Eddie thought.

“-but Mr. Stark says that I shouldn’t do that.” Eddie only realized now that Peter had still been talking.

“Yeah, well, he’s a weird old man so what does he know?” Eddie replied, hoping that would please Peter.

When he laughed, Eddie sighed in relief. “He’s not that old.”

“Just weird then.” Eddie recalled the conversation he had with Vee where he said the same thing. A bit weird to be having it again, but not too weird.

“That reminds me! You should see what Mr. Stark did for me!” Peter led them to the staircase, making them scale up what felt like a million steps.

The sight at the top was worth the wait, however. It was a beautiful lounge if Eddie had ever seen one. The only thing was that it was in the ceiling. Or, was it that the lab was supposed to be taller and they just made another floor to it? It didn’t matter.

Peter stepped into the room, tapped on the railings next to the stairs once, then turned around. “Welcome to my lounge!” he said, extending his arms and sweeping them across the room. “Mr. Stark made it for me and Shuri so we can hang out.”

“That’s the bathroom” he pointed at a small room in the back corner. “That’s the kitchen” he pointed at the small kitchenette by the edge of the room, complete with sink, hotplate, and a small garbage can. “And those are my snacks.” he pointed at a set of cabinets hung on the wall.

On the right side of the room, Peter took a seat on one of two chairs up against the right wall. There were only two chairs, but there were also two beanbags crumpled on the floor nearby, one red and one blue.

“Aren’t those the ones you brought to Shuri’s lab?” he pointed at them. Peter nodded enthusiastically. 

Hearing something in the ceiling suddenly made a lot more sense. At least, more than having poor sound insulation in a millionaires tower.

Eddie sighed and took the seat next to Peter’s. A silence worked its way between them, which Eddie found uncomfortable rather quickly.

“You know...I’m sorry about wrecking your suit.” he said, curling into his seat. “I know you weren’t exactly up to telling me no when I did it.”

Peter didn’t even skip a beat before he said “It’s ok! I have more.”

“You do?” Eddie raised an eyebrow, sitting back up. 

Peter jumped up, then quickly made his way to the stairs. He gripped onto the pole, wrapped his legs around it, then slid down with a resounding whoop. Eddie found himself leaning over the ledge, only to see Peter looking up at them and gesturing for him to come down as well.

Hesitantly, he copied Peter. He didn’t whoop like Peter did, but sliding down was still fun. By the time he was down, Peter had opened a previously unseen panel in the wall and was putting on a bright red and blue Spiderman suit.

Eddie let him, though looking felt like an invasion of superhero privacy so he turned the other way.

“Ta-da!” Peter said, cueing that Eddie could look again. And, to be fair, he really did have a spare suit. Looked just the same as the one he wrecked, if a bit off-colored. The only part he hadn’t put on was his mask, which sat loosely gripped in his hand.

“Ooh, you know what we should do?” Peter giggled. “We should fight each other.”

“You sure you’re feeling up to it?” he asked, curious. He leaned in, wary of any cameras, to whisper “You got stabbed like two days ago.”

Peter, instead of telling him an excuse like he was expecting, lifted up his part of his suit to reveal a completely healed left hip. Not more than a small scar where a vicious wound once laid.

“Impressive.” he inspected it closer, noticing only minimal light bruising. “Enhanced healing?”

Peter put his suit back down with a cheerful grin. “Yeah! I have a lot of powers!”

Eddie smiled, knowing that tone. The kind where someone really wants to talk about something they are passionate about, but is just waiting for someone to ask. He’s been around kids enough to know what that sounded like.

“Oh yeah? What can you do?” he had an amused smirk plastered on his face, interested in hearing more.

Peter was practically shaking with visible excitement. “I can do a ton of things! I’m super strong so I can lift a truck with one hand. I have a really good sense of hearing, which isn’t always a good thing when it’s that sensitive. I’m super fast, not like Superman fast, but really fast. And also-” he cut himself off with a hand over his mouth. He stared at Eddie with wide and unblinking eyes.

Eddie raised an eyebrow. “What was that for?”

Peter lowered his hand slowly. “I shouldn’t tell you if we’re gonna fight.”

“Oh I see.” he smirked, lifting his head higher. “You think you can actually beat us.”

Peter gasped, dumbfounded. He quickly settled that look into one of determination. He brought his hand up, encouraging Eddie to shake it. Eddie did so, taking his grip fiercely and shaking it with vigor once.

“You’re on.” said Eddie, flicking his eyes over with Vee’s pearlescent white for a split second. An intimidation tactic that seemed to throw Peter for a loop, as evident when he backed off with a squeak and a little jump.

“Race you there!” Peter said suddenly, having shaken out of his stupor, while rushing out of the room, slipping on his mask as he went. The door automatically opened for him, then shut shortly after. Eddie cursed under his breath, running after him. 

He didn’t even know where he was going, but he was hot on Peter’s tail, so they could just follow him. He passed by a few people, including Tony, but barely gave any of them a passing glance as he chased. 

It got to the point where even the hallways were a blur. He was hardly in control of his speed or the way Vee pulled him around when he physically couldn’t take the corners.

Until it all came to a stop at one seemingly random door in the hallway. It wasn’t random, he knew, because it was labeled ‘Training Room’ in big bold letters. It was just hard to see when everything was a blur. 

Though he supposed Peter wasn’t kidding about being fast going by the way they were barely keeping up with him. Faster than Superman, no, but he could outrun them long distance for certain.

And, now that he noticed, Peter had hardly broken a sweat. He was leaning against the wall, resting. Not panting like they were doing, hardly keeping upright and sweating up a storm, but just resting.

Impossibly athletic, then. Absolutely unfair in his book. They had to work hard to keep up a healthy physique (which was still a work in progress with how much they ate), even with Vee enhancing their abilities.

“Beat you.” Peter said, once Eddie stopped panting like he was going to die. He was taunting them to disagree.

“Yeah yeah, point one for Peter.” He held up one finger, then raised another to make two. “But the next round’s gonna be us.”

The door slid open with a small whir, slipping into the wall like every other door in this building did. Eddie had almost gotten used to the high-techness flare of the tower. 

The room was nothing special, just something you’d see in a gym. A very expensive, high-tech one, but a gym nonetheless. Just a giant sparring mat in the center, with an observation deck up in the top right. Overall a very unassuming room.

Nothing about it felt like a trap. Not that Eddie was very good at telling what was and was not a trap, but Vee would let him know if it was.

**Lots of cameras**

He glanced up to the corners of the room, seeing tiny cameras. _Anything else we should be worried about?_

**Water above**

“...That’s called a fire sprinkler.” he mumbled at the bright red objects in the ceiling, slightly annoyed. “Not exactly dangerous.”

“What?” Peter turned around to face them. “What’s not dangerous?”

“You.” he said, crossing his arms confidently. “We can beat you no problem.”

“I’ve got a good shot.” Peter said, sliding his hand along the doorway and swinging around the corner. “I’ve got some tricks up my sleeves.”

Eddie skipped the unnecessary flares and just walked in the door like a normal person. Peter must have gotten his dramatic side from Tony. It wouldn’t surprise him in the slightest if that was how the man acted around those other heroes (who he hoped he’d never meet).

“So do we.” Eddie reminded him. “You don’t know what we can do either.”

Vee crawled out of his skin, forming a layer of black goo around his chest that led up and down his body. “ **Ready?** ” they asked. Peter nodded, seemingly feeling just as confident as before.

Wordlessly, the both centered themselves on opposite sides of the mat. A silent countdown began, Eddie waiting paitiently for Peter to make the first move. Realizing that it wouldn’t happen, he psyched himself up to do it himself.

They both charged at the same time, arms extended, searching for leverage. When close enough, Peter found their slippery back hard to grab onto, while Venom wrapped both of their massive arms around Peter’s shoulders, pinning his arms together.

They easily picked him up and chucked him at the opposite wall, upside down. Unsurprisingly, Peter righted himself almost immediately, catching himself halfway up the wall with both hands and a single foot, only slightly unsteady.

“Don't go easy on me.” Peter said, dropping down from the wall, with only a small thud as their cue before his quick footsteps made their way back into the fight.

He quickly shot out two thin strands of white from his hands, which were aimed at their arms. They instinctively tried to tear it off once they landed, but found it only clung to their hands, impossible to remove. Irritated, they crushed it in their hands until all that was left was a wad of sticky webs, which they threw off to the side. They couldn’t do much about their arms, but at least their hands were free.

That didn’t stop another wave of webs from coming directly at their face. They shot several small, yet strong tentacles to pick up the training mat they were now off of. It was lifted to cover the attack, and it stayed up until there were footsteps running towards them. 

“That’s cheating!” Peter sounded so offended it was hilarious. “You can’t do that!”

“ **Anything goes, spiderling.** ” They lifted the mat high and shook it down, sending a wave so huge that Peter was forced to jump over it. The other side of the mat hit the floor with a resounding smack, but Peter was soon standing, perfectly fine, on top of it, with a hand on his hip.

“You’re still going easy on me.” he taunted, voice light and airy. “Or are you just this bad at fighting?”

“ **We usually _eat_ the people we fight**.” they snarled at him. “ **Do not challenge us.** ”

Even under the mask they could tell Peter was smirking to himself. Not liking it, they took huge, slow steps over to him, growling loudly all the while, challenging him to do something about them. Before they got to him and took him down in one hit like they had planned from the start, that is.

Peter squeaked under his suit, shooting out several panic webs at them. Predicting it in advance, they jumped as high as they could, narrowly avoiding the extremely sticky web coming at them at top speeds. Expecting to fall, they braced themselves.

But they never did fall. Instead, they were looking down on Peter, who, even far below, seemed shocked. He looked behind him, trying to figure out what happened, when he saw the weirdest sight: Two pitch black, feathered wings on his back.

They were ruffling in the breeze they were created as they flapped gently to keep themselves upright. They reminded Eddie of a fallen angel's wings with how smooth and silky they looked, while also being black as night.

_We can fly?_

“You can fly!?” Peter shouted from below, laughing.

“ **We have many talents**.” Venom answered for the both of them. They gently fell back down to the ground, puffing out their wings proudly when their feet settled on the ground.

“Woah, woah, timeout!” Peter crossed his arms in front of himself, making an X. “Since when could you grow wings?”

Venom suddenly launched a slightly sharp tentacle from an extended arm. Peter narrowly dodged, dropping down the ground to duck under it. “Hey, I said timeout!” he was still laughing, so Eddie was assured they didn’t offend him.

Either way, they didn’t want to give the kid a stopping point. They were winning so far and they didn’t plan on losing any time soon. The wings sank into their back, disappearing in a split second.

“ **No timeouts with criminals**.” they chuckled darkly. “ **Imagine we are your greatest enemy.** ”

Peter lowered himself to the ground and into a crouch. “I was just playing around before.” He jumped up high, slung out a web to catch on the ceiling, then pulled himself all the way up until he was crouched upside down on the tiles. 

“ **And that’s why you haven’t landed a good shot in two minutes**?” they backed up so they weren’t directly under Peter and whatever attack he had planned, always keeping their eyes on him.

Peter launched a couple webs at them, but they stepped out of the way each time. All they were doing were dangling uselessly, taking up space in Peter’s hands. They weren’t sure what he was planning, but they felt a bit of unease.

That unease was well placed when Peter jumped down, circling them as he went. The webs, which they deemed useless, were suddenly coiled around them, ensnaring their body. They quickly tried to slice the thick webs off, but Peter was sticking close to them. Much too close for their liking.

And they found themselves completely immobile when their body was tightly wound up, arms tied by their side.

“ **Good move. We didn’t want to hurt you.** ” They said, not bothering to try and break the webs. “ **But don’t count us out yet.** ”

Their skin started to bubble and boil. Their bonds began to melt, pooling off of their body like wax. Until the only webs left were in a puddle at their feet. Their mouth widened into a grin, sharp teeth showing.

“Venom.” Peter whispered, breathlessly, hovering at a reasonable distance back. “Your skin is venomous.” he began to laugh. “I should have known!”

Suddenly, something in their skin changed. He looked down at himself, only to see nothing. Just the blue training mat where their legs should be.

“You can turn invisible, too?!” Peter turned his head in bursts, searching for them, even though they hadn’t moved an inch. “No fair!”

_We can turn invisible?_

**Among other things, Eddie. Though it is more like camouflage.**

Eddie scoffed _You just like to show off_.

As quietly as they could, they slinked around Peter, who was on high alert. Creeping up on him, they reached out one hand, ever so slowly, and smacked him upside the head.

Immediately, Peter yelped and jumped back. “W-What? Why couldn’t I sense you?” he stuttered out.

Instead of taunting him like Eddie really wanted to, they switched to the other side and did it again, flicking his forehead sharply. Peter jumped again. 

“What’s going on?” he whispered to himself, crouching down low to try and avoid them. They just waited until he felt safe to stand back up, before striking again. This time, however, they decided to end it.

They wrapped their arms around him, tight enough that some of his breath was forced out. Still not enough to hurt more than a hug would, but enough to tell him they meant business. Peter struggled in their arms, thrashing around in what little room they left for him.

“Aww come on, I don’t wanna lose to a hug. That’s lame!” He squeaked indignantly, shifting around as much as he could. They only tightened their grip until all his movement came to a sudden halt. 

“ **We are very strong, tiny child. We could crush you into a pile of bones and blood if we wanted**.” they whispered in his ear, sending a visible chill up his spine. “ **Admit defeat and we will let you go**.”

“Alright alright, I give!” Peter sighed, sounding deeply disappointed. “You win.”

Immediately they let go, setting him gently down on the ground. “ **Wise choice**.” The same feeling on his skin changed, leaving him visible again.

Peter took in a few deep breaths, but otherwise seemed unharmed. They looked for any damage to his suit, but found none. They weren’t looking to upset him about another suit they ruined.

Venom slowly sank back into their chest, unfurling like strands of ribbon until there was nothing left but Eddie. He fixed his sleeves, pulling them up his arm just slightly. “But we would never hurt you.” 

“I want a rematch.” Peter pouted, arms crossed.

Eddie just scruffed his hair. “Another time.”

Just then, Eddie saw movement from the observation deck. He didn’t turn his head, but being with Vee meant he could see all around him at all times, so he didn’t have to.

He saw Tony, frowning down at them. He didn’t seem angry, or at least not blatantly so, but was instead something else they couldn’t place. If Tony was hoping to see them hurting Peter or going too far (which would both be a reason to forbid the kid from seeing them again), he was out of luck.

“Want to grab lunch with us?” Eddie said, leading the two of them towards the exit.

“Sure! I can pay this time.” Peter quickly added. “I get paid way too much and know just the place.”

“A good combination.” they chuckled, ruffling his hair again. “Let’s go.”

Eddie couldn’t help that he was getting a soft spot for the kid. Which wasn’t a bad thing in his book. 

Most of the time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know what you thought! I love comments so _so_ much!


	10. Alarming Situations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something was clearly wrong.

Something was clearly wrong. 

The kid was obviously improving in his fighting skills, that much was obvious. Where he’d stumble and trip on landings, he’d land with grace. Where he’d taunt for much too long (long enough for the bad guys to get away) he’d taunt as a distraction, so that he could get a better angle on them.

Eddie was impressed, truly. It wasn’t that he was copying their fights as Venom, but that he was learning on his own, finding his own groove. It took years of practice to hone, something even he hadn’t accomplished.

And he seemed fine with them eating bad guys as long as he wasn’t with them. At least, he didn’t say anything about it when they fought together, as well as when they hung out outside of fighting.

So, with all that in mind, something was wrong.

Eddie glanced over at Peter, his whole body shaking, especially his hands as they clutched a knife that belonged to the man under his heel. It wasn’t in a cruel way that Peter refused to take the weight off of the man, but Eddie wasn’t sure what it was, if not that.

Now more than ever he was convinced that something was wrong.

Last night had ended in something of a similar fashion. Peter hadn’t been paying attention the whole night, yet was also on high alert, panicking at the smallest of things they did. When he thought they wouldn’t see, he would glare at their back, scanning him.

Tonight was similar, while also different. Tonight Peter froze in place staring at them for much too long, being triggered by something they couldn’t tell. If Eddie was bold enough to admit it, the kid was analyzing them like a scientist would. He was searching for weak points on them.

It only spelled bad news.

They came up next to Peter, shaking under his suit visibly, and grabbed the knife from his hands with some force. Peter wouldn’t look at them, no matter how long they waited for him to.

“ **That’s enough**.” they told him.

They didn’t like how long the kid took to walk away, nor how long he kept shaking and holding himself on the walk home, far passed when they both de-suited.

But for the life of him, he couldn’t figure out what was wrong.

So he sucked up all of his pride and asked Tony. What he had both expected and not expected was the retaliation he got.

“I should be asking you the same thing.” Tony’s voice rang sour, glaring at Eddie, who had, admittedly, barged into his lab and interrupted his work.

“We don’t have to fight about this you know.” Eddie glared back. “We could just talk.”

“No, I don’t think we will.” Tony set down what he was working on and marched over to the door Eddie was standing in front of. “I’m going to talk and you’re going to listen.”

“No, I don’t think I will.” Eddie threw Tony’s own words back at him.

“Peter’s grades have gone far lower than they ever have. His aunt is getting worried, thinking I’m doing something.” said Tony. “He hardly leaves his lab anymore except to go to school, where he’s reportedly sleeping in class.”

Eddie had thought something was wrong and was right to take it to Tony. There was only one problem. Something he knew was coming up.

“So either you keep your bad influence away from my kid or we’re gonna have more of a problem than we already do.” Tony pointed a finger at him, then sent him a hard glare. “Now leave.”

“What makes you think I’m the one doing this?” Eddie refused to walk away, especially from something that involved Peter.

Tony ignored Eddie’s stares for a few moments, then scoffed loudly. “His behavior suddenly changing right around the time he meets you? I don’t think that’s a coincidence.”

Eddie didn’t really have a good argument against that. He hadn’t even thought about that. 

“Maybe it is a coincidence.” he tried to argue anyway. “But you wouldn’t know that if you’re also leaving a bad influence on him.”

Eddie instantly got a death glare, freezing him in his place. Refusing to admit defeat, however, he just sent one back.

“You think _I’m_ the one influencing Peter?” Tony’s words came out cold, yet vicious.

“You spend all day in your lab.” Eddie gestured around the room. “You hardly talk to anyone except your A.I. And you certainly don’t check on your ‘kid’ enough to ask why he’s been acting weird instead of blaming me.”

Tony scoffed again, twisting his face up in disgust. “Get out of my lab.”

“With pleasure.” Eddie took his bow, walking out the door a lot sooner than he’d thought. Humor him for thinking that they could talk it out like adults.

With one singular goal in mind, he marched towards Peter’s lab, not even greeting anyone he passed by. They just gave him weird looks anyway.

He knew it was stupid to knock on the automatic door of the lab, but he did anyway.

“Peter?” he called out, taking a curious step into the empty room. “Are you in here?”

He wandered around to look at the work stations, layered in stacks of messy handwritten papers. Strewn about the floor were diagrams of Venom, all in different poses, along with even messier notes with medical jargon he didn’t understand.

It was a bit creepy, if Eddie was honest. 

“Peter?” He tried again. “We need to talk.”

His eyes landed on the pole and staircase, slightly hidden behind a tipped over chair. It was the only place Peter could be, if he even was in his lab. With caution Eddie climbed the stairs.

The upstairs was just as messy as the bottom, if slightly less so. Still, papers, pencils, and pens void of ink everywhere. And, at the heart of the room, furiously scribbling on a notebook resting on his lap, was Peter.

“Peter?” Eddie said, stepping closer.

Peter startled at his voice, dropping the pen and frantically looking around the room. “Mr. Stark isn’t with you, is he?”

“No. No he isn't.” Eddie tried toning down his voice to calm Peter’s clearly anxious state. “But what are you doing in here all alone?”

“Nothing!” Peter nearly shouted. He scrambled upwards, collecting papers in his arms hastily and doing his best to hide them from Eddie’s view. “Just...school work.”

“Unless your paper is on Venom, I suggest you come up with a better excuse.” Eddie came closer. “I saw the notes on your workstation.”

Peter looked like he was a mouse caught in a trap. He laughed quietly, then dropped all his papers and began to sob. He fell to the floor, face held in his hands. Eddie quickly kneeled down in front of him, careful to avoid stepping on his papers.

“Kid.” he said gently. “Just tell me what’s going on.”

Peter shook his head, sobbing even harder.

“Please.” Eddie said, even softer. “For me?”

It took a few minutes of silence and patience on Eddie’s end (and plenty of tears on Peter’s), but eventually Eddie was able to lead him over to the couch to sit down properly and talk.

“I...I don’t like that you eat people, Mr. Brock.” Peter eventually admitted, once he was calm enough to talk without breaking down again.

“I figured that was the problem.” Eddie sighed. He had hoped that Peter would be ok as long as they didn’t do it around him or talk about it with him. But that was not only wishful thinking on his part, but avoidance of what the real problem was.

The real problem was that they were a cannibalistic criminal who fed themselves to the brim with human flesh every night.

 **Not cannibalism. We are not human**.

_Try telling that to the poor superhero who has to deal with the fact that the guy he hangs out with eats other people_

“I don’t think you like it either.” said Peter.

“ **We do**.” Vee cut in, manifesting out of Eddie’s shoulder. “ **We find it fun to hunt bad guys**.”

“But do _you_ like it?” Peter cut back in, staring at Eddie.

Eddie had gotten used to it at this point. If he just looked away and pretended he didn’t hear the screams everything was fine. Well, it wasn’t fine, actually. He hated doing it. Even the thought made him want to vomit.

“It’s what we have to do.” He settled on, not able to lie to the kid. “It’s part of our life now.”

“But it doesn’t _have_ to be.” Peter picked up a couple papers off of the table, shoving a few into Eddie’s hands. He tried to make sense of them, but it was either too messy or too technical to understand.

“I’ve been taking notes.” Peter took back the papers. “When you get ‘hungry’ your skin starts bubbling. When you’ve just fed that goes away.”

“Does that mean something?”

“It means it’s a chemical reaction and not actually about hunger.” Peter picked up a couple more papers, setting down the others. 

“And that means…?”

Peter shook the papers violently with each word. “That means if I can find the chemical you need then I can fix your hunger issue.”

“ **We will always be hungry. We will always need to feed**.” Vee cut in, slinking around Eddie’s shoulder and to the other side. “ **It is in our nature**.”

“But doesn’t it make you unhappy that Eddie is unhappy?” Peter turned his attention to Vee. “Don’t you want to make him happy if there is a way to not always be hungry?”

“ **We want Eddie to be happy. But we don’t want to starve**.”

“You won’t have to if this goes right.”

Vee blinked once. “ **We don’t want to be experimented on again**.” he said. “ **But it is Eddie’s choice**.”

They both looked to Eddie, pleading eyes on Peter’s part. 

On one side, he understood where Vee was coming from. He was tortured in that facility too and wasn’t exactly looking for that kind of trouble and pain again. And if Vee was feeling the same thing, then he wasn’t going to put either of them through that.

But he also understood that Peter was not Carlton Drake. He was not going to lock them up and torture them. He was not going to try and kill them. He wasn’t going to hurt either of them.

He was just a kid.

“We’ll give it a shot.” Eddie eventually said. “But if we get uncomfortable, we stop.”

Peter smiled widely. “Thank y-”

“That also means that if we see you not taking care of yourself, we stop.”

Peter paused. “What?”

“Kid you’re frailer than a twig and have bags under your eyes. You haven’t been sleeping, have you?” He stood up, gently pushing Peter back down onto the couch when he tried to stand. “The first rule we’re putting in place is that your health comes first.”

“But-”

“No, this is not a request.” He grabbed the blanket folded up along the back of the couch, unfurling it. “We’ll go along with this, but if we see that you’re not doing ok, then we’re taking a break so you can rest and eat properly.”

“But what if-”

“If something important is happening, then we’ll do our best to help.”

“And-”

“Even if we don’t understand how the science works, we can help with other things.” Eddie shook the blanket out and gently placed it over Peter, shortly after setting the papers previously on his lap onto the table.

“Help with what?” 

“Schoolwork, covering for May, anything you need.” He tucked the blanket in around Peter. “Even if it’s just checking in and telling you when you need a break, we’re there for you.”

“But I can’t work as fast if I’m sleeping all the time.” Peter whined softly, leaning into the couch.

“You can’t work as efficiently if you’re too tired all the time either.” Eddie began to back out of the room. “This is step one. Friday? Dim the lights.”

He’d never called for Friday before, but this was the one time he needed her. She came through with only a soft “Yes, sir.” from the speakers.

The lights faded down until it was just bright enough for Eddie to make his way to the staircase yet again. “Goodnight Peter.” he said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for not posting as much as I used to. I've been really sad and unmotivated lately, which led to a month-long hiatus. Hopefully I can get back into the swing of things soon.
> 
> Please leave a comment if you enjoyed it!


	11. Bonding Stories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An introduction to the other heroes was necessary. But something comes of it that Eddie wasn't expecting.

Eddie wasn’t gloating, really he wasn’t. Well...maybe just a little.

“No need to look so smug.” Tony commented, still walking far in front of them and refusing to meet his eyes.

Eddie wasn’t gloating, not really. He was just extremely happy to see Tony Stark, the man who’d been doubting and judging him from day one, begrudgingly thankful that he got through to Peter.

And, more importantly, Eddie was the one that kept Peter happy and healthy while the two of them worked on a ‘cure’. It wasn’t a real cure, Eddie had to admit. It was something like a pill that one takes for any mental disorder. His was just for cannibalism.

**Not cannibalism. We are not human**.

_Yeah, yeah, not entirely human anymore. It’s still eating people_.

The door slid open for Tony and him, letting Eddie in on a familiar sight. The main lounge was just as beautiful as the first time he saw it, though it was somewhat less impressive the second time.

The thing that was strikingly different, though, was that there were people in here. Eddie recognized some of them from his times wandering the halls with Peter. He probably mentioned their names before, but he couldn’t pin real names to the hero’s, especially without their costumes on.

“Well, this is everyone.” Tony gestured loosely to the four people, who’d all moved from their spots to stand in front of them. “Everyone that you're going to meet, anyway.” he mumbled that last part, which Eddie decided to keep quiet about.

The first person, tall and with long blond hair, partly tied up behind him, stepped forward, hand extended. “I am Thor, God of Thunder.”

Eddie took the man’s hand, which Thor shook vigorously. If he was trying to break their hand with that fierce grip then he might just get his wish. 

“Nice to meet you.” Eddie said, trying to indicate that he would really like to let go now.

“And to you as well!” Thor laughed heartily. “It is always nice to meet a fellow hero.”

“Yeah...hero.” Eddie mumbled, letting his already small smile drop.

“I am Steve Rogers. You might know me as Captain America.” The second person, in a plain blue button-up shirt with swept-back hair, took his turn shaking Eddie’s hand. “But most just call me ‘Cap’.”

“Yeah we know you.” Eddie recognized the man from the different seminars back in his high school days. “A big ‘truth and justice’ kinda guy. Not as cool as in the films, gotta admit.”

Eddie heard Tony snicker about that under his breath, which led Eddie to turn to the third person instead of commenting on it. She took his cue and stepped up, though she didn’t move to shake his hand like the others.

“Natasha.” her voice was curt and to the point, but not rude. “Black Widow.”

In turn, he kept his greeting short with a simple “Nice to meet you.”

She didn’t respond, but, just like before, it didn’t seem rude. If anything it was carefully neutral. Eddie supposed that, with a hero name like ‘Black Widow’, she wasn’t exactly going to be the friendliest.

And with that Eddie turned to the fourth and final member, a person he had never seen before. “And you are?”

“Loki, God of Mischief.” they said, nodding their head slightly. “At your service.”

Eddie was expecting something more than that, but when it didn’t happen, he moved on. “Well, it’s nice to meet you all, though I guess we’ve seen each other before.”

Well, Eddie hadn’t seen Loki before and he surely would have remembered meeting the God of Thunder, but that’s besides the point.

“I guess I should introduce myself.” He glanced over at Tony, but was given no response except for a nod in the other’s direction, effectively saying to go on.

“I’m Eddie Brock.” he said. “Also known as Venom. People have called us the San Francisco Demon before, but that’s not our name.”

“I’ve heard of The Demon before, but I always thought he was a bad guy.” Steve said. 

“Well...we aren’t exactly the goodest of guys, if that’s what you’re asking.” Eddie rubbed the back of his neck. “How do I say this nicely? We uhh...we eat people.” 

“You _what_?” Steve’s mouth was agape for a split second, then he snapped it shut.

“So the rumors were true.” Natasha said, still maintaining that neutral mannerism.

“Let him explain.” Tony said, surprising Eddie.

Tony had been anything but supportive so far, least of all in giving him a chance. And now he wanted to help them? It didn’t make any sense, but they had to explain themselves before anything drastic happened.

“We have to, as much as you have to breathe.” Eddie said. “We can’t live without eating some chemical in humans. And-”

“Surely there’s some better way to go about this.” Steve cut in.

“Yes, there is.” Eddie cut back in, slightly annoyed. “Peter is working on a pill that’ll lessen the hunger.”

“Is this hereditary?” Natasha asked. “Or did you acquire this hunger elsewhere?”

“No, no, I wasn’t born with this.” Eddie shook his head. “I guess you could say it was acquired, but that’s leaving out the most important part.”

“And what is that?” Steve asked, crossing his arms. 

It reminded Eddie of all the things his school used to say about the hero they watched. He was too stuck up, he was too self-righteous, and many other things that are not only out-of-date, but also curse words he’d rather not repeat.

“It’s-” He began.

“You are not alone, are you?” Loki asked, head tilted to the side.

Eddie had to take a moment to even process what the person said. “How did you know about him?”

Loki smiled faintly, then looked at them with an expression he didn’t recognize. He heard a quiet mumble from Steve, which made Eddie feel even more uncomfortable.

“‘Him’?” Steve asked.

Eddie only let the man’s subtle yet slightly intimidating glare go on for a few seconds before he made a decision.

_Vee? Wanna come say hi?_

Vee came out of his shoulder like always, pearl white eyes and shark-like teeth manifesting first. “ **We are Venom**.”

“Interesting.” Thor rushed up to them. “I never thought I would meet a Klyntar.”

“You...know what he is?” Eddie stayed shocked even as Thor inspected Vee closely.

“There have been many tales of the Klyntars.” He said, putting a hand gently on Vee’s head. “Vicious and parasitic beings who feast off a planet's resources in hives, crippling armies in seconds, before moving on to the next.”

“Yeah well...it’s different now.” Eddie wanted to smack Thor’s hand away, but held back when Vee didn’t seem uncomfortable.

“Yes, I assume so, considering this one is here alone.” Thor kept inspecting them as he talked. “They have been known to rarely bond with a host, separating from their hive.”

“It’s a little bit more than that.”

“How so?”

Eddie’s face flushed red in an instant. “We’re, well...we’re in love.”

“I see.” Thor said, surprising them with how calm he was about this. It shouldn’t be surprising, considering it wasn’t that interesting - after all it was just two beings falling in love - but it meant a lot to them.

“And what happened to your hive?” Thor asked.

“ **There were many. We came to feed on Earth**.” Vee began, once the hand was lifted from his face. “ **But I grew to like this planet. And then I found Eddie and we bonded**.”

“Bonded?” Natasha asked.

“ **We are one. We are Eddie together**.”

“That’s a little creepy to be honest.” Steve commented. Eddie sent him a glare, which shut the man down from any further remarks.

“ **We will stay with Eddie. We will not let anything hurt Eddie**.” Vee continued. “ **We are in love and you will not keep up apart**.”

The room fell silent for a moment, with several looks to each other. Eddie wasn’t sure if he should say something or let the tension fade on it’s own, but his choice was taken from him by the person he least expected.

“Well I certainly don’t want you to be separated.” Loki said, with another expression Eddie couldn’t read. “I’ve read about the Klyntars before, in a library long passed. If this one is here alone, then there isn’t much threat.”

The last part seemed to be directed at the others, which looked like it satisfied Steve, at least for now. 

“Well now that you’ve all met, I can assume there won’t be any issues?” Tony, who’d been keeping quiet (which was very unlike him, Eddie noted), spoke up. 

_He’s not hating us, what a surprise_.

**He needed a reason not to, Eddie. He needed to know more about us**.

Eddie...genuinely hadn’t thought about that. All Tony knew about them was that they killed people. And that he, the dangerous man who killed and ate people, liked hanging around the kid he was most protective of.

He didn’t know that children were off his list. He didn’t know that things could have been much worse. He didn’t know _anything_ about them.

“Where are the others?” Natasha asked.

“Gone.” Eddie said back. “They were forced to bond to hosts too many times and died.”

“Unfortunate.” Thor commented, frowning. “I would have liked to meet more of your kind.”

Thor seemed disheartened by their story. Tony, on the other hand, seemed to loosen his shoulders the more they spoke.

“Sorry, they’re all gone now.” said Eddie. “But, the thing is...I still remember how that felt.”

“What?” Tony asked, sounding confused. “What do you mean?”

“How it felt to have your mind shared by an alien for the first time.” Eddie felt his shoulders hunch in just slightly. “Having something else in your head, telling you what to do. It..wasn’t very fun at first.”

He was met with blank stares.

“Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t trade this life for anything else.” he held up a hand, as if to stop them from thinking the wrong thing. “But I was there when not only the other symbiotes died, but the people did too.”

Tony mumbled something under his breath, then said something Eddie wasn’t expecting. 

“I remember...” he muttered, quiet enough that they were having trouble hearing him. “I remember some bad things too.”

Eddie didn’t know what to say. If he was bold enough to admit it, Tony was finally understanding where they came from, just like Vee said.

“So I get it.” he continued. “And I get that you’re working to fix it. Just...be careful, ok?”

Eddie got the feeling that it wasn’t about Peter this time. He felt like this was genuine understanding of feelings. Of situations. Of things they couldn’t help, but were trying to anyway.

This wasn’t a petty grudge anymore. This wasn’t miscommunication or hostility. This was a matter of one who was protecting and one who was being protected. An us-versus-them that was coming to a conclusion.

“We will.” Eddie said, a feeling that wasn’t there before coming through in his voice. “We promise.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise! Another chapter so soon! I got a spurt of motivation all of a sudden and wrote all of this as a result.
> 
> Thank you to everyone who cheered me on in the comments last time. It really meant a lot to me. I'll do my best to keep up the consistent updates, though there'll probably be some short comings on my part. 
> 
> Please leave a comment if you'd like!


	12. Different Angles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter works on a cure, Eddie helps Tony out, and they discover something new about themselves thanks to Loki.

When Peter had called them down to his lab yet again, they were sure that, this time, they were going to keep their cool. They were going to let Peter do his research and keep calm, even if Peter didn’t understand why they didn’t like being examined or tested.

At least, that was their plan. They had gone into it with the assumption that blood tests were going to be done. 

“How much meat do you think on average? Not including when you feed.” Peter asked. 

He was leaning over a clipboard and sparkly pink pen on a wheeling office chair, trying his best to look professional, even though he was still in a cartoon themed t-shirt and bright blue jeans. 

“Dunno. A lot.” Eddie paused. “We like to eat raw chicken sometimes.”

“Gross.” Peter said, curling his lip in disgust. “But at least you’ve got enough protein.”

“Anything else?” Eddie asked. They’d been going at this for a while now, with many dead-end questions that put Eddie’s doubts on finding a cure even higher.

Peter hummed, tapping his chin in thought. “Is there anything that helps the hunger go away? Even just a little bit?”

“I don’t think-”

“ **Chocolate**.” Vee cut in from his resting position on top of his head.

“Oh yeah.” Eddie nodded. “Chocolate helps.”

Peter looked down at his clipboard again, this time writing a little note on one side. “Maybe there’s something in there that makes up for something you’re lacking in. We can’t know for sure without getting lab work done but I know you don’t want to do that so that’s a no-go.”

“Yeah…” Eddie said slowly. He’d come in here with the assumption that Peter didn’t understand why they wouldn’t want that, and maybe he still didn’t, but he was grateful that he didn’t press the issue. 

Then again, there were probably things the kid didn’t like to talk about either. He’d been adamant that he shouldn’t bring up his uncle Ben around May, nor should he ask her about Peter’s deadname.

Eddie wasn’t planning on asking in the first place, but he was surprised that Peter was setting up boundaries for the first time. He would respect them, of course, but it was still surprising.

“Mr. Stark!” Peter suddenly stood up, setting the clipboard down on his desk. “What are you doing here?”

“Heya kiddo.” Tony said, smiling gently from the doorway. “I need to borrow your little friend here for a bit. That ok?” 

It took a second to realize that he was asking _them_ , not Peter. It really seemed like something had changed in the way Tony was treating them. Less of an enemy and more of a friends’ friend.

Eddie stood up, bobbing Vee on top of his head, who didn’t seem to mind either. “Yeah that’s fine. You’re good on your own for a bit right Peter?”

Receiving a nod and a smile from the kid, Eddie followed Tony out of the lab. The door shut behind him with a small click to indicate a locked door. Guess he just wanted to work in privacy.

A series of hallways later and the familiar sight of Tony’s oddly signed lab greeted him. When the door shut behind him with a small click as well, Tony turned around to face them, something different about the way he was looking at them. 

“First off, I’d like to apologize for the crappy way I’ve been treating you.” He said. “I didn’t really trust you for a long time, though I’m sure you noticed. And second, I wanted to say that….I’m really grateful that you’re taking care of Peter.”

Eddie had hardly expected Tony to apologize. He’d assumed that they would move on from hating each other without having to mention it. He was beginning to see that Tony wasn’t as much of a self-righteous prick as everyone thought he was.

“I get it.” Eddie said. “You were just trying to protect Peter and we were the guy that seemed the most dangerous. Which, to be fair, we still are.”

“Peter claims otherwise.” Tony smirked sarcastically. “He says that you’re a big fanboy of Star Wars and have a glittery phone case.”

Eddie couldn’t help but laugh. “Vee likes Chewie.”

“Yeah about that.” Tony gestured to him. “Should I call you ‘they’ or ‘he’?”

Eddie stopped to think for a moment. “I...I guess either works. We use ‘we’ because we’re both Eddie, which is weird to say, but it’s true. So ‘they’ works cause there’s more than just one person in my body, but ‘he’ works cause it’s like- like we’re both the same person together.”

“I...see?” Tony furrowed his eyebrows. “Nevermind, I don’t get it.”

“Call us whichever you want, basically.” Eddie sighed. “I doubt anyone else is gonna ask anyway.”

“I’ll tell the rest of the team.” Tony said off-handedly, waving his hand in dismissal. “They’ll get it. Or, well, at least Thor and Loki will. Loki goes by ‘they’ so the two of them will definitely get it. Not sure how capsicle will feel, but he’ll get over himself eventually.”

“He doesn't seem to like me very much.” Eddie commented, tilting his head in question. “Any guesses why?”

“He’s ah- he’s new to the whole 21’st century thing. Got frozen for a bit and now everything is different.” Tony said. “Like I said, he’ll get over it.”

“Hope it doesn’t take as long as it took you.” Eddie commented playfully.

“I already apologized for that.” Tony snarked back. “But anyway, wanna see what I’m working on? It’ll rock your socks off.”

“You didn’t just say that.” said Eddie. “Please don’t tell me Peter taught you that.” Seeing Tony’s look, Eddie laughed. “He did, huh?”

“You wanna see it or not?” Tony frowned, but Eddie knew it wasn’t for real.

“Sure, show me what you got.” Eddie walked over to where Tony’s workbench was. A series of complicated designs and a few odd, colorful sticky notes were covering his table.

“I’m working on something that can suspend things in mid-air for an indefinite amount of time.” He picked up a metal disk about palm-sized, then set it in Eddie’s hand. Before he could do anything, Tony pressed his thumb against part of it, making it glow in light blue, part of it twisting and turning in circles.

He then grabbed a nearby fountain pen and set it in the faint, blue aura above it. It floated in mid-air, unmoving, though Eddie noticed it felt the same weight as before. He turned it around in his hands every which way, even upside down, but the pen never moved, not even the ink still on the tip.

He tried to grasp the pen to pull it out, but found that the aura, which he previously thought for decoration, became as solid as a concrete wall when he touched it, though it was still see-through.

“Immobile, weightless, and locked up until the person with the set genetic code comes along and gives a fingerprint scan.” Tony pressed his thumb against the same part, making the aura fade away and the pen fall into his open hand. “Cool, huh?”

“Very.” Eddie nodded. “What’s it for, though?”

“Space travel.” Tony took back the device and set it back on the counter. “A gift for our alien friends who wish some things stay safe in case something bad happens on their trips out.”

“You could sell that and make a lot of money.” Eddie noted, gesturing down to the workstation where it sat.

“That’s not why I invent.” said Tony. “I do it because people need things that they can’t get anywhere else but me.” he paused. “Also because it’s fun.”

“Peter does the same thing.” Eddie commented, nodding. “He doesn’t have to work on a cure for us, but he does because he’s the same way as you.”

Tony smiled faintly. “I taught him well, but that’s just him being a good person, not because of me. One day he’ll go off and do whatever it is he really wants to do. He’ll keep being the same kid, even when he’s an adult, because that’s just who he is.”

“If you make a bigger one could it house people?” Eddie posed suddenly, raising an eyebrow. “Like could you make one that temporarily puts people in a bubble so they wouldn’t be hurt? Or so they couldn’t hurt people?”

Eddie was thinking of criminals, mostly. Venom’s method of dealing with crime, while effective, wasn’t the way to go about it if they wanted to remain a ‘hero’. 

**We do not care what others think of us**.

_Think about Peter_.

Vee hummed front on top of his head quietly, in thought. **We do not care what most think of us**.

_Close enough_.

“I guess that could work.” Tony looked back to the device. “Put em in some kind of bubble so they could get to whenever they need to be safely.”

“Think about it.” Eddie said. “Some super-powered person comes along and decides to hurt people. What better way to take care of them in the moment than make sure they can’t hurt people until we find a way to contain them long term?”

“That's...actually not a bad idea.” Tony tapped his chin in thought. “The question would be how to get them inside. I doubt they’d be willing to hop right in.”

Tony turned and grabbed a sheet of paper, using a nearby pencil to draw something out. Hunched over the desktop, Eddie couldn’t see what it was, but he knew that faraway look in his eyes meant that he wasn’t going to get anything from him until he was done with this new project.

Peter was the same way when he got into a certain groove.

“I’ll let you hash out the more sciency details.” Eddie said, nodding towards the exit. “I better go check on Peter and make sure he isn’t working himself to death.”

“Sure.” Tony said, sketching something large out, hardly paying attention to them anymore.

Eddie decided to take the long way around the tower, since he’d gotten a bit more familiar every time he did so. Also because he was bored. Peter had locked the door on his way out, meaning he probably wanted to be alone for a while.

So, after wandering a bit, stopping to look down at the training room from the observation deck, where he saw Steve, in full Captain America gear, and Natasha, in full costume, fighting it out. She was clearly winning, as she would trip him up and get in a few good hits every few minutes. He could hardly land a punch, but would get up every time he was knocked down.

Some small part of Eddie wanted to join, but another part of him was somewhat intimidated by these guys. He didn’t know how they fought or what they liked to do.

Peter liked to taunt and play around when training. Eddie did too, though he liked to intimidate his enemies instead. Natasha, or Nat, as Tony had called her, seemed to focus on the fighting first and foremost. Not exactly the kind of partner he was looking for.

One last look down at the training room (with a whisper of ‘That’s America’s ass’) and he was out of there.

He found himself in the shared space that was both a kitchen and a living room. He hadn’t noticed until he was fully in the room, but there was someone else there.

“Ah, Eddie.” Loki said, sipping a large glass of wine from their luxury chair. They glanced up at his head, which Vee was still on top of. “And Venom. To what do I owe this pleasure?”

Eddie sat down on the couch opposite to them. “Just wandering I guess. What’re you doing in here all alone?”

“Shuri asked me to leave her for a time, though I would rather be in her company.” They took another small sip. “Peter has not called for me recently, partly due to working on something new for you, I assume.”

Eddie nodded. “Yeah. I left him alone cause I think he’s finally figuring out what we need.”

“Always working, that one.” they said. “The calling for time off never seemed to bother him. I, for one, would never ignore that feeling. Everyone needs to take a break.”

“Yeah that sounds like him.” Eddie chuckled. “Getting him to eat something or sleep for more than two hours is always a hassle.”

“Indeed.” They took a sip, closing their eyes in thought. “A little voice has told me that you are working with Stark now.”

“Huh?” Eddie paused for a second. “Oh, yeah, we’re cool with each other now. He showed me something that he’s making for you and your brother. Something about space travel?”

“There are some things we prefer not to remain on Earth.” They said, not elaborating further.

“I’ve always wanted to go to space. It looks so beautiful.” Eddie commented. “Vee’s been, but I never have.”

Loki took a moment to look at them, tilting their head in thought every so often. Another sip of wine was taken before the cup was set carefully down on the glass table. 

“I have read stories before.” They said, making their way to stand in front of Eddie. “That Klyntars can share memories with their hosts if bonded properly.”

“What?” Eddie asked, unsure what to think.

“You can see his memories, can you not?” Loki asked Vee.

“ **The moment we met Eddie, we knew everything about him. All his memories are ours now**.” He responded, finally moving from his position on top of his head to rest coiled around Eddie’s shoulders, like he always did.

“I believe the same can be said for you.” Loki said to Eddie. “I believe that if you both are open to the idea, it is possible to see into Venom’s memories.”

“Well…” Eddie looked to Vee. “Wanna give this a shot?”

“ **Anything for Eddie**.” He said, brushing up against his cheek.

“To do this, Eddie, your mind has to be receptive. Which means that your mind must be empty in order to make room.” Loki held their hands behind their back, pacing in front of them. “Venom, you must imagine what memories you wish to show Eddie as vividly as possible.”

“Will this hurt?” Eddie found himself asking. He closed his eyes and tried to empty his mind as much as possible, but couldn’t help but be curious.

“Unlikely but possible.” Loki said. “Now focus.”

After several moments of silence on everyone’s side, a memory began to play in his head, somewhat distant and foggy. There were voices of sorts, but nothing he could understand, all garbled, sounding like it was underwater.

A twisted mess of consciousnesses began to talk clearer in his head, yet in a language he did not understand. But the most jarring thing was the immense hunger he felt. It wasn’t in a specific spot, but instead on his whole body, which felt unreal when he tried to imagine what it felt like.

The memory switched away, instead replaced by one of himself inside of something. No, it was some _one_ he was inside of. He was pained all over his body immediately by the hunger, finding himself devouring this person’s insides unwillingly.

He didn’t want to, but the person’s voice was dead in their head before they could plead for him to stop.

The next memory to play was different. Of looking at himself as if he was looking in a mirror. He was both of the people talking to each other.

“Are you gonna uhh- you gonna eat anybody else?” Eddie asked, sounding both horrified and disgusted.

“ **Most likely**.” Venom, who had his teeth bared and a guttural growl in his throat said, finding this strange host amusing. He recognized this one as a loser, just like him.

Eddie, watching this play out from Vee’s perspective, felt the connection Vee was feeling, thinking the thoughts going through his head. A strong sense of belonging with himself came through. He felt the feeling being pushed down in favor of feeding their hunger, but couldn’t be ignored for long.

He watched through a series of flickering events that he recognized as him terrifying his old neighbor, fighting off bad guys, and, finally, saving himself in the woods.

The kiss they shared felt electric, though it was something pleasant instead of hurtful. Vee found it a very good sensation, leaning into it more and more as he transferred back into his home within Eddie.

Eddie felt the savage love Vee had for him as if it were his own. He felt that love, the kind he’s never felt for anyone else before, pour into him.

He opened his eyes, tears trailing down his face as the last memory faded away. 

“I assume this means it worked.” Loki was smiling faintly.

“Y-Yeah…” Eddie wiped away the tears. “It did.”

“Well this has been informative.” Loki commented, picking up their empty wine glass and moving it to the kitchen counter. “No thanks is necessary, though I hope you will remember this in the future should I need a favor.”

“We will.” Eddie said. Loki, nodding their head in their direction one last time, silently walked out of the room, leaving Eddie and Vee alone with each other.

“You really were going to eat all of us, huh?” Eddie asked, wiping away more tears.

“ **We came to feast on your planet. But we were captured and forced to bond many times. It was painful and all but me died**.” Vee said. “ **But when we met you that changed**.”

“It’s safe to say that my life changed when I met you too.” Eddie smiled faintly.

“ **We love Eddie. We always have**.” Vee said softly, still pushed up against his cheek.

“I love you too. I always will.” Eddie said, placing a small kiss on Vee’s cheek.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A longer chapter this time, to make up for the lack of writing recently. I'm finally getting back into the groove of things after getting out of that depressive rut I was stuck in for over a month. 
> 
> As for the unnamed device, it looks a bit like Tracer's Chrono Accelerator from Overwatch, if a bit bigger and heavier.
> 
> If you enjoyed feel free to leave a comment, even if it's just a ♥ as an extra kudos!


	13. Painful Devourings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter was getting close to a cure, but a break-in at the tower puts a hinderance on plans.

Peter was getting close to the cure they needed. It would never be a true cure, Eddie had to remind himself when he got too hopeful, but a suppressant that would lessen their hunger.

They’d spent the last few days just working together like this. Eddie would come into his lab and help however he could while Peter worked.

He couldn’t do much, which he felt bad about, but he was still doing whatever he could. And, as requested by Peter, they still had training sessions. Venom was much stronger than Peter could ever be.

They were viscous and unforgiving to their enemies. Of course, they had to tone that down when sparring, but Vee was still having fun by fighting. If Vee got bored, even for a second, sparring would have to stop so they could do something else.

Well, eating someone being ‘something else’. Their hunger had grown a lot recently. Something in the air, maybe a pollen, Eddie thought, made them hungry at random.

And the hunger itself was getting worse. Less like a late night snack and more like their first meal after fifteen days of starvation. Voracious would be the best word to use. Greedy and without restraint.

It made Eddie feel like a dog being trapped behind an electrical fence. He didn’t like it, but he was hoping for the day that feeling would pass.

Specifically, he was hopeful that the cure would be finished soon. Vee got hungry at the worst of times. More specifically, he got hungry when him and Peter were working together a lot.

Including right this second.

 **Hungry**.

“Not now, Vee.” Eddie scolded, watching Peter from the chair he’d been sitting in for a while now.

 ** _Hungry,_ Eddie**.

“Fine.” Eddie muttered, then said louder. “Peter, we’re gonna go get a little snack.”

Peter, entranced in whatever he was currently fixated on, took a few seconds to turn his head. “Ok! I’m so close to figuring this out, I just know it.”

“You’ve got the chemical down, at least. Phyle-something.” Eddie said, nodding his head.

“Phenethylamine.” Peter corrected. “It’s soluble in water so all I have to do is figure out a way to make it into a consumable form. A pill-”

“Would be more difficult to make than a syrup.” Eddie finished, faintly smiling. “You’ve already said all this. Just keep doing what you’re doing and you’ll get it.”

“Thanks!” Peter smiled.

“We’re gonna go find something to eat.” Eddie stood up. Something meant someone, but Peter didn’t need to hear that right now.

Eddie began to walk away, heading straight for the door, but was stopped by Friday of all things.

“Breach in Ursa lounge. All personnel evacuate.” She cut in through the intercom hastily. “All personnel evacuate.” She repeated, then kept repeating.

Eddie and Peter both stopped what they were doing, looking at each other. Peter immediately dropped what was in his hands and ran over to the other side of the room, putting his hands on the wall and pushing.

“Uhh Peter, I don’t know what that was, but I think it means we gotta go.” Eddie said, gesturing to the door.

By pushing, Peter opened the hidden part of the wall, whereby he proceeded to pull out his Spiderman costume from a glass case.

“Ursa lounge, I know where that is.” Peter said, struggling to put his legs in his suit a little. “I gotta go help.”

“Woah, you don’t know what’s there.” Eddie said, slowly making his way to block the only way out. “You can’t do this alone.”

“You don’t understand, I have to help.” Peter said, zipping up his suit and starting to walk to the door he was blocking.

“Peter, no. Leave this to Tony.” Eddie said, trying his best to mimic May’s strict voice.

Peter frowned, then slipped on his mask and ran at him. Eddie had to make a choice between Peter’s safety and his own. It was an obvious choice that led to him being punched in the face and shoved to the ground when he refused to move.

“Sorry Mr. Brock!” Peter called from over his shoulder, already running down the hall. “But I have to do this.”

Peter was long gone, going by footsteps disappearing from hearing. Eddie stayed sitting on the ground for a bit in shock, but then smiled and wiped a bit of blood from his face. 

“Kid’s got a wicked punch.” He said to himself, pretty damn impressed with how far their training had helped him progress.

“Friday, where is the break-in?” Eddie asked the ceiling. 

She responded right away with “Ursa lounge, sir. On floor-”

“Wait, the one with the kitchen?” Eddie asked, thinking back to the few rooms he’d been in while visiting the tower.

“Yes, sir.” She said, curtly.

He stood up slowly, feeling a bit more blood drip down from his most certainly broken nose. Well, it wouldn’t be broken for long, but it still hurt.

“There is one enemy.” Friday cut back in. “He has the ability to create plasma rays from his hands and eyes, along with the ability to fly, though that seems limited.”

A superpowered enemy was much different than a regular criminal. With more than one power, Peter was certainly in for quite a surprise. And without backup, it was not going to be a good fight.

He was suddenly much more worried about Peter than he previously was.

“Thanks.” he said to Friday, before running down the hall in the direction of the lounge.

He got turned around a couple of times, on account of only slightly panicking, but eventually, when he finally did find the lounge, he could barely believe the sight.

The lounge was a disaster, couches upturned and chairs having been obviously thrown around a lot. There was glass broken on the floor near the kitchen, along with some pots that had been slightly melted away.

Peter was on the ground, hands prying on the heel crushing his chest, dangerously close to his neck. There were patches of his suit that were burned off, showing skin that reminded Eddie of the gruesome, bloody stab wounds they had to patch up not too long ago.

Peter was gasping for breath, not being helped by wearing a mask, and haplessly listening to whatever the skinny, pale person who was standing on top of him was saying.

After a particularly painful cry from Peter, Eddie had found himself running to do something.

Something being grabbing the man by his throat and holding him up. Whoever it was tried blasting them with plasma, first with their hands, then with their eyes.

It didn’t matter because none of that could hurt Venom. His eyes burned red, as if seeing everything through a tinted lense. 

**Kill him**.

Venom’s grip tightened, threatening to crush this person’s throat. He struggled against their hand, kicking at their chest, which remained unmoving. Again, he tried to stop them, this time with a stronger blast to their face that only burned a little bit.

 **Kill him**.

Eddie’s voice, the one that was now kept at the back of their head, had no choice but to listen to Vee. Their anger grew so much that they could see the marks of their clawed hands digging deeper into the man’s neck.

 ** _Kill him_**.

 _No_ Eddie helplessly tried.

 **Rip off his head. Tear out his lungs. Cut off his tongue**. 

Venom was much stronger than Eddie right now. He couldn’t do anything anymore.

They could feel the claws dig further into the man’s neck, piercing his throat. Blood obviously making its way into his throat, he choked even harder. 

The blood he was coughing up was beginning to stain his freckled cheeks, some even reaching his light brown hair and dripping back down.

He tried to kick at their chest and pry their hand off one more time, but everything eventually stilled with one final dance of death.

“ **A feast for us**.” Venom said, throwing the man down on the ground roughly and stomping on his chest like he did to Peter. “ **You will pay**.”

Their mouth opened, tongue stretched out, prepared to devour this man as slowly as possible. His shoulders were just waiting to be torn off. He would wake up screaming to being eaten alive, but that was what he deserved.

They were close now. Close enough to smell the blood, to almost taste the flesh. They weren’t hungry, not anymore, but this would be a devouring vengeance meal.

Then, they stopped.

“Mr. Brock.” Peter said, voice shaking. He was gripping their chest tightly with eyes shut tight. “I’m ok. You can stop now.”

Their mouth snapped shut with a loud click. 

“It’s over. I’m ok. We can stop now.” Peter said, tremors wracking his body. “Everything’s fine.”

The tinted red vision began to fade as Peter kept talking.

“I’m ok.” he repeated again, sounding very close to tears. “Everything’s fine. Please stop. Please...”

Eddie felt Vee disappear strand by strand into his back and chest, anger finally subsided. He returned the hug Peter gave them, gentle as if Peter was the most fragile thing on the planet.

And maybe right now he was.

“M’ sorry.” Eddie mumbled. “Didn’t mean to scare you.”

The shudders that wracked Peter’s shoulders told them that he was crying. It was a terrible sound, Peter being in distress, an even worse feeling than seeing him in pain.

Because it was Eddie that had caused this.

“I’m sorry.” He repeated softly. “God I’m so sorry.”

Peter took in a deep breath, then let it out shakily. A forced smile on his puffy red face, he pulled back, sniffling. “It’s ok.” 

No, no it was not ok. They scared Peter even more than the first time they met him. They scared him so bad that he would never look at them the same again.

The shame they felt was so intense that Eddie didn’t even bother to apologize again.

Which was a good thing, since the Avengers burst in through the door, ready for a fight. Suited up with a vigor that could only mean Friday told them that Peter went in alone, they rushed in.

Only to be met with Eddie, with blood stained clothes and an apathetic look on his face, Peter, with teary eyes and a costume littered with burn marks, and an unconscious man lying face down with puncture wounds in his neck.

“What...on Earth happened?” Captain America asked, lowering his shield.

Neither Eddie nor Peter said anything, leading all the heroes to step closer with questioning glances down to the man on the floor.

“I’m guessing that was the break-in?” Tony walked up and kicked the man so he was facing up. “And you’re the ones who stopped him?”

Eddie, shaken out of his stupor, looked over at Peter. He looked like he was about to cry again, probably thinking that Tony was going to be angry at him. After all, he did try and stop a villain by himself, instead of doing the wise thing by waiting for him.

Of course he would be awaiting a yelling.

Eddie had to agree. He had done the same. Instead of stalling the man in order to buy time, he dealt with it Venom’s way, by nearly killing someone. And, in doing so, nearly hurt Peter.

Tony looked them both up and down a few times, then sighed loudly. He walked over to Peter and put a hand on his shoulder, forcing the kid to look him in the eyes. They stayed like that for a few seconds, before Tony wrapped him up in a hug.

“You shouldn’t have done that, underoos.” He said in Peter’s ear. “That was very irresponsible.”

This was the most toned-down scolding Eddie had ever heard. So much so that he wasn’t even sure it could be called a scolding.

“But I’m glad you’re ok.” Tony said, finally pulling back. He quickly wiped a tear from Peter’s cheek and smiled. “That’s all that matters.”

Tony turned to Eddie, raising an eyebrow at his fearful look and bloody cheek. “I’ll let you explain it when all this is over.”

This was his way of saying ‘Get your story straight’ and Eddie was thankful for the warning. 

There was going to be video evidence of what happened, considering there were cameras all over the compound, but Tony would swing the story whatever way was best, as long as he had something to work with.

Tony was understanding, as much as he could be, but almost killing someone in his tower, along with endangering his ward warranted a bit of an interrogation.

Nothing like the actual interrogation Eddie had gotten, but considering the rest of the Avengers were going to want to hear this, Tony would need to get a handle on the situation before it escalated even further.

“For now…” Tony said, kicking the man at his feet again somewhat aggressively. “We have to get him locked up.”

“In prison?” Eddie asked, looking down at the man and grimacing at the damage they did. “Or in the hospital?”

He was still breathing, so that had to count for something. Not a lot, but something. Not close to waking up any time soon, Eddie was the one to hoist the man leaning on his shoulder, gripping his hand to keep him up.

Tony stepped up and took the man’s other shoulder, keeping him fully upright instead of slung across Eddie’s back.

“We’ve got a medbay.” Tony said, taking a small step forward to indicate Eddie should follow. 

They made their way step by step to the medbay until the man was set down on a hospital bed and locked up in handcuffs.

Eddie looked at those, then looked up to Tony. “He had plasma beams. He could probably melt the metal.”

Tony looked at Eddie, then at Peter, then quickly glanced at the team of heroes that followed them here.

“Think I’ve got some heat resistant ones in my lab. Might need help finding them, though.” He began to walk away, pushing his team out the door with him. “I’m very clumsy. Might miss them.”

Soon the door was shut and it was just Eddie and Peter. 

“So.” Eddie said, once he was sure everyone was gone. “We gotta get our stories straight.”

“Yeah.” Peter said, running a hand through his hair, clearly stressed. “I went to stop him.” He gestured to the man on the bed.

Eddie was suddenly faced with the realization that it wasn’t a man, per say, but a teenager. Eighteen, maybe nineteen. Skinny and pale, still with acne on his cheeks. Oh god, he almost ate a teenager.

“But you followed me right away.” Peter continued. “And then…”

“Then we took him down together, but he got some good shots on you, which put you out of commission. We had him held up by his throat but accidentally dug too deep, which led to the bleeding.”

“We could just say that the blood was yours?” Peter gestured down at his bloody shirt. “He blasted you with plasma. We could say that Venom healed you and that’s why there’s no marks on you.”

“Good idea.” Eddie nodded. “And then he passed out from choking on his blood.”

“Can’t we come up with something else?” Peter winced, probably imagining trying to explain that to everyone else, who would definitely get angry.

“One look at him and you can tell that’s why he passed out.” Eddie gestured down to the bed. “He’s still not breathing right. Any medical professional can tell why.”

“Ah...” Peter frowned. “You’re gonna get in so much trouble for that.”

“Hey, don’t worry about me.” Eddie said. “I’m an adult. I can handle myself against big bad Captain America.”

Peter said nothing, not even a tiny laugh that Eddie was expecting. “What’s wrong?”

“Your eyes…” Peter said, not looking at them, but instead the floor. “They turned red.”

Eddie remembered that. That burning feeling, as if boiling oil had been poured directly into his eyes. That tinted view, as if watching everything through red glasses.

“Sorry.” Eddie found himself saying. “I didn’t mean to scare you like that.”

“I’m not gonna lie and say you didn’t.” Peter said softly. “I was scared as hell.”

“Sorry.” Eddie muttered on reflex.

“But I’m not mad at you.” He said. “Nothing was as bad as the first time we met.”

“In the alleyway?” 

“Yeah.” Peter laughed gently, giving Eddie a sliver of hope. “That scared me a lot.”

“To be fair, that was the idea.” Eddie laughed just as gently. “We were just trying to scare you off.”

“But this time was different.” Peter finally met their eyes. “You were just as scary looking, but I wasn’t as scared as the first time we met because I knew it was you. I knew if I just talked to you that you would calm down.”

“Well…” Eddie thought about that moment. The moment he stopped everything just because Peter was there, clinging to him so tight that it must have hurt. “You were right.”

“I- I know this is gonna sound weird, but…” Peter said slowly. “You’re kind of like...a dad to me. You, May, and Mr. Stark are the family I always wanted. So...I love you.”

Eddie’s heart _melted_.

Tears were pouring out of his eyes faster than he could blink away. He wrapped Peter up in a hug, crying into his shoulder. Peter returned it with tears of his own.

“Love you too, kiddo.” Eddie whispered softly. “Love you, too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm such a sucker for found family that it's not even funny. Everything I make has to come around to this kind of bonding, doesn't it? It's a curse, really.
> 
> Either way, please leave a comment if you enjoyed this chapter!


End file.
